


Not One, Not Two

by ScytheMeister7



Category: JackSepticEye (YouTube RPF), Markiplier (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Amy and Signe are the best people ever, Empathy, F/F, Invisibility, M/M, Mark has two other abilities, Plot Twists, Secret Organizations, Slow Build, Sound Manipulation, Superpowers, Telekinesis, but they're a secret for now, flight, pyrokinesis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2018-09-22 06:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 60,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9589109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScytheMeister7/pseuds/ScytheMeister7
Summary: In a world where everyone has a superpower, Mark is pretty average, a common pyrokinetic. Regardless, he doesn't let it stop him from enjoying his senior year of high school, the year everyone learns how to handle their abilities. However, Mark has several problems: 1) A crush on a guy who he thinks hates him and 2) a very big secret that's beginning to become harder and harder to hide. All the while, things outside of his knowledge are stirring up, and things in his life are about to become a lot less /average/.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm starting a new story since I deleted Killers. Unfortunately, I lost the motivation to keep writing that one. I got the idea for this one from a random prompt I saw and altered for my own uses. 
> 
> The original: Everyone in the world has a superpower. Rarely does anyone have two. 
> 
> My version: Everyone in the world has a superpower. Rarely does anyone have two. Mark has three.

Mark wasn’t the most popular person in the building nor the least popular. He was both quiet and social, though he didn’t fit in much anywhere. Being a band geek separated him from the athletic crowd, but being naturally muscled made his fellow band students shy away from him. 

He had friends, of course. Bob and Wade were his best friends, the three of them together since middle school despite their differences. Mark had always been the type of person to have his heart on his sleeve, though there were some things he keeps to himself. Mark kept a secret, a very big secret. And then he got found out. 

\- ~ -

“Mr Hanson is a dick.” Mark quirked an eyebrow in the direction of Wade whilst taking a sip of his boxed apple juice. Bob had once remarked that it made him look like he was still in elementary school, but Mark had only shrugged, claiming that apple juice was good and the boxed ones were easier to walk around with. 

“Explain.” He said when Wade didn’t elaborate. 

“I know senior year is suppose to be tough and all, but two projects? Due on the same day? That’s a bit of overkill, even for an AP class.” Mark watched as Bob shrugged.

“Stop complaining. Aren’t you the one that chose to take that class anyway? It’s an elective. Drop it if you really don’t like it.” Mark nodded in agreement, pulling the plastic straw out of his mouth. 

“Yeah, what Bob said.” Wade shook his head, looking at his friends as though he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.

“What? No! I love the class, but the work is overwhelming. Man, if this is what highschool is like, I seriously don’t want to think about college...” The last part trailed off into muttering under his breath and Mark just laughed. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” As he spoke, a shoulder hit his arm, causing him to drop his apple juice box. Thankfully, it landed perfectly upright, but when Mark turned to look at who had walked into him, he immediately blushed and hid his face in his arm, hoping the Jack McLoughlin hadn’t seen him. 

As no one turned to tap on his shoulder, Mark peaked out from where he’d hid and turned back to his friends to see them giving him  _ that  _ look. The one that said ‘you’re-a-complete-and-total-idiot’. 

“Shut up.” He grumbled, knowing just how stupid he’d just looked. Mark was completely and utterly in love with Jack. He had been since the first day of junior year. 

They’d been put in the same physics class, a class that Mark would have loved if it hadn’t been for that one little fuck up. As in most physics classes, students were put into groups of two, and Jack had been his partner. 

Mark had been so flustered during their first lab together that he’d ended up almost starting a fire. Being a known pyrokinetic, Mark had almost been put into detention as the teacher had thought Mark had done it on purpose. 

Thankfully. Jack had his back and explained it had been an accident. That day would have been the best day ever if Mark hadn’t learned that Jack had filed for a partner change. After that, he’d been so embarrassed that instead of trying to have a decent conversation with the guy he was crushing on, he hid every time they were in the same general vicinity. 

“I don’t understand why you don’t just go up and talk to him. What happened last year happened  _ last year.  _ If anything, he probably forgot about it or didn’t care and you’re just worrying over nothing.” Bob said, taking a bite out of his sandwich. Mark sighed. He truly wished he could do what Bob was telling him but that was near impossible. 

In most instances, Mark was not a shy person. Despite his lack of popularity, it didn’t mean he wasn’t social. It just meant that he had a small group of friends that he preferred to hang around with rather than a giant mob.

“Hey, why don’t you go over there and talk to him. I dunno, just say hi or something. It wouldn’t hurt.” Wade spoke up. Mark wanted to glare at him but Bob interrupted. 

“Wade’s right for once. You don’t have to say much. Just talk to him. The worst he can do is ignore you.” Mark refrained from saying that  _ was  _ the worst thing that could happen to him, possibly causing Mark to shrink into an even smaller ball whenever Jack was nearby in the future. His friends both gave him a look before he finally gave in.

“Fine! I’ll do it. If I get laughed at, you two are no longer my friends.” Bob just shrugged while Wade gave him an encouraging smile. Slowly, Mark got up from his seat, taking his scraps and garbage with him as nothing but a reason for getting up and trying to talk to Jack. 

He was grateful that Jack’s table was somewhat close to one of the large garbage bins scattered across the cafeteria. That way he didn’t look out of place as he walked over. The closer Mark got, the more he could hear Jack’s laugh. It was a pleasant sound, one Mark wished he was the reason for. Taking a deep breath, he walked closer, finally able to hear bits and pieces of the conversation Jack was having with the other person at the table. 

“She likes you, man! I’m sure of it. Signe said she heard her telling her friends about how she wanted to confess. Signe also said she was cute. Maybe you should go for it.” Mark froze. Someone else liked Jack? Well, the idea wasn’t so farfetched. As Mark leaned more away from popular crowd, Jack leaned towards it. 

Sure, it had to do with his close friendship with Signe Hanson, but Jack was also quite well known for both his looks and attractive accent. It was hard not to be enthralled by him. 

Mark suddenly felt sick and without sticking around to hear any more of the conversation, he turned on his heels and walked away, bypassing the garbage and forgetting to throw away the things he had in his hands. When he sat down, Wade gave him a confused look. 

“What happened? You didn’t say anything.” Mark didn’t respond, catching the attention of Bob who looked worried. As an empath, he could tell something was wrong, but not the specifics. 

“Mark, are you okay?” He asked. Mark shook his head and looked up, forcing a smile on his face. 

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine. I think I’ll wait another day before I try and talk to him. Lunch is about to end anyway and we have that assembly to get to.” Mark said, moving past what had just happened. Wade tried to say something in response but before he could, the bell rung, signalling the end of the period. 

Mark stood without saying anything and picked up his bag, swinging it over his shoulder. He walked away without waiting for Bob or Wade whilst also leaving his trash at the table. He pulled his phone out of his pocket as he followed the herd of student out of the cafeteria. 

Opening it, he spotted a text from Amy, telling him to meet her near the back of the gym so that they could sit together. He shot her a text back, saying that he would before putting his phone back into his pocket. 

Almost zombie like, Mark made his way to the gym where the senior class was to meet. He noticed halfway through the walk that Wade and Bob had re-appeared by his side but he said nothing. He tried to force his thoughts away from Jack and the apparent girl that was crushing on him and instead focused on the assembly. 

Every senior class across the states had a meeting one month into the school year to give students their Classifications. Mark had no doubt he’d be put into Class B. Being pyrokinetic, he had an elemental ability. He was just mostly curious about his ability Level. When he reached the gym, Amy caught sight of him and grinned as she ran towards him. 

“Mark! What took you so long? Doesn’t matter, I found us seats close enough that it won’t be too annoying to walk down when our names are called but far enough to zone out when our turns are done.” Mark smiled. Amy was a really good friend of his. 

When they’d first met in their freshman year, the two had joked that they would make a good couple if Mark wasn’t into guys and she wasn’t into girls. They bonded over being the only non straight ones in their group of friends and often lamented over whether or not they’d find a boyfriend or girlfirend. 

Mark had joked one year during a sleepover that if they couldn’t find someone by the time they were both thirty, they would marry each other. Amy, of course, had written up a contract the next day which both of them signed after discussing that it wouldn’t actually be that bad of an idea. A friendship marriage, they’d called it. 

Amy had been the first person to know about his more-than crush on Jack. When she spotted the worried looks on Bob’s and Wade’s faces, she adopted one of her own. 

“Is something wrong?” She asked once they all sat down. Mark knew she wouldn’t let the subject drop, but he didn’t want to talk about it during the assembly and all.

“I’ll tell you later.” He said. She looked like she was going to protest when Principle Wecht began speaking. 

“Welcome Senior Class to the 2017 Classification Ceremony. Now, many if not all of you already know what this is about, but for sake of traditional, I’ll explain anyway. Today, each of you will given your Class and Level, depending on your ability and how much control you have over it. As you name is called, you will come up, present your ability, and receive your Classification and senior schedule. Once this ceremony is over, you may go home for the day.” The crowd of students all made a collective sound of excitement. 

Despite his off mood, Mark was excited too. He already knew his Class, but he’d never been professionally evaluated to get a proper gauge on his Level. The ceremony started immediately after Principle Wecht finished his speech, students going up one at a time in alphabetical order. Mark, Amy, and Bob all clapped as Wade walked back to his seat. With the last name Barnes, he was the first one of the group to go up. Wade was Level 3 telekinetic, putting him in the Class A category for having a psychic ability. 

Mark went next. Quickly, he walked through the rest of the students towards the front of the room. Mark wasn’t a big fan of his pyrokinetic ability. The most it ever did was cause problems. Elemental abilities were closely tied to emotions and whenever he was upset, he would have to reign in his ability. 

As a kid, he had occasionally set his clothes on fire. One of the positives was that fire couldn’t burn him. Mark presented his ability, careful that there was enough space between him and the evaluator. He felt the heat spread from his chest down to his arms and finally erupt from his finger tips. Mark had pretty decent control over his abilities. He walked back to his seat as a Class B, Level 4 pyrokinetic. 

Slowly, more students went up. Mark couldn’t help looking up when Jack’s name was called, though it was  _ Seàn  _ McLoughlin instead of Jack. Mark knew what Jack’s ability was, sound manipulation. It was one of the cooler Class B abilities.

When Jack presented, Mark was too enthralled to try and cover his ears. The sound wasn't even loud enough to be annoying near the back . He couldn’t help the feeling in his chest when it was announced that Jack was a Level 4. 

Those who had the same Class and Level were typically put into the same courses, and Mark wondered what that would be like if that happened to them. He shook the thoughts from his head as Bob was finally called up. 

Bob was a Class A, Level 5 empath, though he already knew that. When he got back to his seat, the four of them drowned out the rest of the ceremony until Amy’s name was called. She was a Class D, Level 4 and when she sat down, they all compared schedules. The way senior schedules went was that they retained their morning classes that they went to for the first month before the ceremony, but towards the end of the day, extra classes related to Class and Level were added to help student better hone their abilities. 

Bob and Wade were the only ones who had abilities in the same class, and thus shared two additional courses. For Amy and Mark, they would be alone. 

They spent the rest of the assembly just talking and when it was over, they all said their goodbyes. Except for Amy. The two lived pretty nearby and she refused to let Mark leave without him telling her what had happened. With a sigh, Mark gave in, walking home with her while telling her about what had occurred in the cafeteria, and how much of an idiot he was. 

\- ~ -

Jack moved through the cafeteria carefully, following Robin as he went. His friend had been talking to him nonstop on the way here but Jack’s mind was in other places. He looked out over all the students roaming and sitting around the cafeteria, but he was looking for only one person in particular. After a few seconds of searching, Jack finally spotted him.

Mark Fischbach, the guy he’d been obsessed with since junior year in physics. 

That day in class… Jack remembered being so happy over the fact that Mark had been picked to be his lab partner. The day of their first lab, something had went wrong and Jack had known it was his fault. For some reason, it had seemed as though Mark hated him enough to use his ability to wreck their lab. 

Jack hadn’t wanted Mark to get put into detention so he’d claimed it as an accident. The next day, Jack had requested a lab partner change so that Mark wouldn’t have to work with someone that he didn’t like. To this day, Jack was still unsure of what he had done wrong. 

Before that, the two of them had never spoken nor really seen each other. Jack had no idea what had made Mark dislike him so much, but regardless, Jack still had feelings for him, feelings that hadn’t faded at all. During his daydreaming, Jack noticed the direction Robin was walking in. 

They were headed straight towards Mark. 

“Uhh, Robin. Why don’t we sit over there?” Jack said, pointing in the direction of a table near one of the trashcans. Robin have him a look but kept walking in the same direction. 

“Umm, why?” He asked. No one knew of Jack’s crush on Mark, and he liked to keep it that way. 

“No reason. It just looks like a good seat.” He said in a rush. By the time he got the words out, they’d already reached Mark’s table. Jack couldn’t help but give him one glance, but when he did, he spotted one of Mark’s friends (Wade?) giving him a subtle glare. 

Jack rocked back on his heel slightly only to knock Mark’s arm. Quickly, he looked away and walked a bit faster, pulling Robin with him who looked slightly confused. 

“You okay, man?” Robin asked. Jack nodded his head instead of answering verbally. Once they were sat down, Jack let himself calm down. A quick glance at Mark’s table let him know that he hadn't been seen and he let out a sigh of relief. Robin gave him a brief look for moving on, continuing to talk about what he'd be saying earlier. 

“Honestly, I've liked her for a while and I dunno what to do. She's friends with that Amy girl, and whenever I try to go up to her, she's there too. And that woman is scary! I dunno what her ability is, but maybe that's why I can never get close.” Robin complained. Now that Jack had calmed down, he could concentrate on what his friend was saying. Jack laughed.

“Amy’s not scary. I've seen her around a few times. She's a flyer, so that's a no to her ability affecting you. Maybe it's just your nerves. You'll be fine, I'm sure.” Jack reassured his friend. Robin gave him a look and sighed.

“You sure, man? ‘Cause I really like her. I haven't felt this way in...well, never! It's scary.” He said. Jack smiled. 

“Yeah, I get you. Crushes suck.” His mind drifted back to Mark briefly before he stopped himself.

“Speaking of crushes, is there anyone you like? You never talk to me about stuff like this, it's only Signe.” Robin interrupted. Jack let out a laugh. 

“Crush? Me? Nope.” He said. Robin grinned. 

“Well, someone has one on you.” Jack shook his head like he didn't believe him. “She likes you, man! I’m sure of it. Signe said she heard her telling her friends about how she wanted to confess. Signe also said she was cute. Maybe you should go for it.” Jack shook his head and thought, not for the first time, if he should tell Robin that he was gay.

It wasn't necessarily that he was hiding it, but it never really seemed important enough to tell him. The setting wasn't exactly right and Jack would have liked to have planned it out a bit better, but there was no way Robin would let go of this until Jack told him.

“Robin...there's something I need to tell you.” He started. Robin furrowed his brows at Jack’s sudden serious tone.

“Is everything okay?” He asked. Jack nodded and smiled.

“Yeah, everything’s okay. It's just something I've debated telling you for a while is all.”

“You're not in love with me, are you?” Robin joked. 

Jack laughed. “No, not that. You're loveable and all, but it's not you I like. Umm…I'm gay.” Jack stared hard down at the table, waiting for a response from Robin. When he didn't get one immediately, he peeked up. Robin had a thoughtful look on his face before he broke out into smile. 

“That...explains a lot.” He said. Jack opened his mouth and closed it again. After a few seconds, he finally gathered his words. 

“You're...okay with that?” He asked. Robin grinned. “Of course I am. Did you think I wouldn't like you anymore if you were gay? That hurts my feelings, man.” Robin said with mock hurt in his voice. 

“So...if you're not into girls, and you're not into me...is there someone that you  _ actually  _ like?” Robin asked. Jack bit his lip, nodding carefully. 

“Uhh, yeah. It's...it's Mark.” He confessed. It took a few moments for Robin to realize who Mark was and when he did, he gasped. 

“Him?! Is that...is that why you didn't want to walk by his table? I was so confused when you said we should sit here instead. I mean, the smell is less than pleasant.” He said, nodding his head towards the garbage bin. Jack smiled. 

“Uh, yeah. Stupid, I know, but I couldn't help it.” Robin just grinned. “Don't worry, man.” He reassured his friend. They spent the rest of the period talking about nothing in particular. Jack hadn't noticed, but after telling Robin, a huge weight had lifted off his shoulders. 

Robin was one of his closest friends other than Signe, and it felt weird keeping secrets from one and telling the other everything. He realized as the bell rang signaling the end of the period that he hadn't told Signe who he liked.

The girl knew there was  _ someone,  _ but Jack had been adamant on keeping it a secret as he thought nothing would come of it. As he walked out the cafeteria with Robin, he planned how he would tell her. Robin nudged his shoulder halfway down the hall and pointed at a person. When Jack realized who it was, he blushed and glared at his friend. 

“Huh, he is kinda cute. Though nowhere near me.” Robin joked. Jack scoffed. 

“He's way cuter than you'll ever be.” He said before he could stop himself. Robin said nothing, instead quirking an eyebrow at him and smirked. Jack realized what he said and blushed again, choosing to stay silent for the rest of the walk.

Once they reached the gym for the senior assembly, Jack’s thoughts had finally floated away from Mark. He wasn't necessarily excited for the Classification ceremony, but he couldn't help but be curious about his Level. He knew he was Class B, being able to manipulate sound. Robin was a Class A telekinetic. As they sat down, Principle Wecht started on his opening speech. 

“Welcome Senior Class to the 2017 Classification Ceremony. Now, many if not all of you already know what this is about, but for sake of traditional, I’ll explain anyway. Today, each of you will given your Class and Level, depending on your ability and how much control you have over it. As you name is called, you will come up, present your ability, and receive your Classification and senior schedule. Once this ceremony is over, you may go home for the day.” 

The senior class let out a cheer at the idea of being let out early. The assembly was long, but not long enough to take up an entire school day. Jack watched as the first set of students went up one by one alphabetically. He'd planned on drowning out the ceremony until his name was called but he couldn't help but be curious about his various classmates. 

Jack watched as students presented their abilities. So far, no one had the same sound manipulation he had. It was one of the rarer Class B abilities, while elemental types such as pyrokinetics, hydrokinetics, aerokinetics, and terrakinetics were some of the more common. Jack perked up as he heard a particular name. 

“Mark Fischbach, please come up.” Jack watched Mark stand from somewhere in the back and make his way quickly to the front. Mark looked tense as he stood in the front before he was instructed to present his ability. It was as if the tension melted from his body as he relaxed and let his ability flood him. 

At first, smaller flames appeared on the tips of each of his fingers before they combined into one palm sized ball. He closed his fingers around it and the flames seeped through, reaching into the air in intricate patterns and shapes before finally sputtering out. 

Jack had been enraptured during the entire thing and finally broke out of his dazed state when Robin nudged him. The evaluator gave Mark the Classification of a Class B, Level 4 and he turned and sat down with a piece of paper clasped on his hand. 

Jack prayed to himself that they'd be put into the same Level so they'd have the same courses. Hopefully, whatever distaste Mark had for him in the past was gone and they could be friends.

As the assembly went on, Jack’s name was finally called. He inwardly flinched when they called him  _ Seàn,  _ but there was nothing he could do about it. It was his given name, after all. With a sigh, he stood and walked towards the front of the gym. 

When instructed, Jack presented his ability. It was a bit difficult to really show sound manipulation, but he'd thought about it all throughout the week. There was enough sound in the gym to create a decent enough sound wave. Jack reached a hand out and closed his eyes, concentrating on gathering all the sound in the room right in his palm. 

Once he was satisfied, he opened his eyes and pushed out. A loud boom erupted in the room, ‘causing those closer to the front to flinch and cover their ears. Jack rocked uncomfortably on his heels as he waited for his Classification. He could feel the eyes burning into his back. He sighed in relief when it was announced that he was a Class B, Level 4. Quickly, he made it back to his seat and drowned out the rest of the ceremony whilst talking to Robin. 

When it was the other boy’s turn, Jack waited patiently for him to present and come back. They would unfortunately be in different courses due to not being in the same Class, but their morning courses would remain the same. Robin came back a Class A, Level 4. The rest of the assembly went by rather quickly after that. 

Most seniors were put into either Level 3 or 4, and by the end of the year, they were expected to reach a max of Level 6, showing complete and total control and understanding of their ability. 

Anything above that, and one’s ability to begin to take them over, though there were reports that Level 7s were great at control too. Typically, those cases were extremely rare as that only happened if someone had two abilities, the possibility reaching almost 1 in every billion. Recordings of a person with two abilities were rare and few. 

As the assembly ended and Principle Wecht gave a few last words, students began to file out of the gym. Jack said his goodbyes to Robin and went to meet Signe by her locker. She hadn't been at the assembly, being a year younger than Jack. The two always walked home together, and Jack began planning on how to tell her about Mark. 

Signe had always been incredibly supportive. The two basically grew up together as their mothers were best friends. Signe was the first to know that he was gay. When he spotted her by her locker, he waved. 

“You know, you shouldn't be skipping the rest of the day just to walk home with me.” He said when he finally got to her locker. She shook her head at him. 

“What else am I supposed to do? Let you walk home all alone without telling me about the ceremony?” She said in response. Jack grinned. 

“I guess you're right.” Signe smirked as she closed her locker door. 

“Of course I'm right. I always am.” Jack laughed at that. It wasn't far from the truth. 

More times than not, Signe was the one who knew all the answers. Something about that made him feel a lot better about telling her about Mark, but guilty that he hadn't told her earlier. Something on his face must have alerted her that something was wrong and she gave him a look of concern.

“You okay?” She asked. Jack smiled. “Yeah, I just… Remember when I said there was someone I liked?” He asked. Signe nodded, waiting for him to continue. 

“Well...it's Mark. I just...thought I should finally let you know.” He confessed.

Signe smiled at him. “I'm glad you finally told me. To be honest, I've been wracking my brain for so long trying to find out who it was. At one point, I even thought it was Robin. But Mark… Mark Fischbach? Amy’s friend? Yeah, he looks like someone you'd like.” She said.

Jack gave her a look. “What's that suppose to mean?” He asked as the walked. 

“Oh nothing. It's just, he's not an athlete so he's no douchey, but he's also got a good physique. He's a nice person if you talk to people he talks to, and he's smart. Oh, and he's got coloured hair. So do you.” She said. The last part was a joke but the rest of it was kind of on point. Jack didn't think he was really one with a type, but Mark happened to hit all his buttons. The guy was cute, smart, funny from what he'd seen from afar, and so damn out of his league. 

“You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking.” Signe said, interrupting his thoughts. He turned to her. “And what exactly would that be?” 

“That's he's too good for you. That's not true. You're one of, if not the best person I know.” She said. Jack tried to laugh it off but she gave him a look. 

“Fine, whatever you say.” He said. Signe smiled.

“Good. Anyway, let's get home quickly. Don't want one of the teachers finding out that I'm cutting.” She grabbed Jack’s arm and pulled him along with her towards the side exit of the school, the two of them heading home. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So after much delay, I've finally completed this chapter. Honestly, I'm not good with directing conversations between more than two people typically, but I tried my best. Hopefully y'all enjoy it 'cause it sure was a hell of a lot of fun to write.

Mark walked down the hall, looking carefully at the room numbers as he went. Amy was doing the same next to him. Today was the day they would start their new schedules and Mark was more nervous than he thought he would be. The fact that in all his years and he was finally learning how to properly control his ability. It was a bit scary.

Mark wasn’t _bad_ at control. If anything, he was pretty good. It was why he was put into Level 4 afterall. Speaking of Levels… Mark was still stunned by the fact that he and Jack were put into both the same Class _and_ Level. Amy noticed the look on his face.

“Still wondering if he’s gonna be in the same classroom as you?” She asked with a smile. Mark blushed and frowned.

“N-no, of course not. I’m just trying to find my classroom is all. If he happens to have the same one as me, then… Well, it’ll just be a happy coincidence.” He said, trying to hide his face. Amy laughed, the ‘yeah sure’ evident in her tone.

“Don’t worry too much about that. You’ll be f-” Mark turned to look at his friend when her words got cut off only to see Signe Hanson standing with Amy’s face firmly planted in her chest. Mark had never seen the blonde move back so fast and would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so awkward.

Signe was a bit of a legend at the school. She was gorgeous, wickedly smart, nice to those who deserved it, and a devil to those who didn’t. Despite being a year younger, she was intimidating. The most Mark really knew about her was that she was from Denmark and was close friends with Jack and Robin.

“Hanson…” Mark said as a greeting. The girl turned her eyes to him and gave a subtle nod of acknowledgement before turning her attention to Amy who was blushing quite brightly. Mark had assumed it was out of embarrassment, but the more he looked at his friend, he could tell it was something else.

Amy _liked_ Signe. Amy liked Signe _a lot_. Mark had only seen the blonde act this way once before and it had been way back in freshman year. Amy had liked a senior at the time and every time the other girl walked by, she would blush and try to hide her face. It was kind of the way Mark acted whenever Jack was near.

“Are you okay?” Signe spoke, her voice slightly accented. Mark had never spoken to the other girl and was surprised to hear how subdued her accent was, not that he’d ever met anyone with a Danish accent in the first place.

Amy nodded her head quickly, removing her hands from where they’d been clasped over her mouth. “I-I’m sorry for walking into you. I wasn’t paying attention and…” She drifted off. Signe smiled.

“It’s okay. I just thought you might have hurt yourself when you pulled back so fast.” She said. Amy shook her head, eyes wide.

“N-no, not at all.” Mark watched the entire interaction and smiled in his head, filing away the information he’d just gathered to question Amy later. The same way she wouldn’t let up with Jack, he wasn’t going to let up about Signe.

Amy opened her mouth to say something else but before she could, the bell rang, signalling that afternoon classes were about to start. Mark decided to jump in and save his friend, saying a quick goodbye and sorry to Signe before pulling Amy along with him. As they walked away, he almost missed the strange look the other girl gave him. Mark trudged along, choosing to ignore it.

The halls flooded as students rushed to their classrooms. Thankfully, Mark wasn’t too far from his and Amy’s was only two doors down. The two parted, but before Amy could get away completely, Mark made sure to tell her that they’d be talking about what had happened later.

When Mark entered the classroom, there weren’t many people there yet. Mark walked over to the window seats and took one not too far in the back and not all the way in the front. He had a good enough view that his glasses wouldn’t be a problem and if he ever got especially bored, he could always look out the window.

Mr Kramer stood at the front of the classroom, talking to students he seemed to already know. Mark knew about Kramer but had never actually had him. According to stories, the teacher was actually a pretty chill guy. He never seemed to get mad and was a bit of a childish jokester. Aside from learning to control his ability more, Mark was excited to be in this class in general. He was finally a senior, and that was a weird thought for him.

Depending on how this year went, he’d either be recruited into the ONA, which there was a slim chance of actually happening, or he’d be like most other graduates who went to college in hopes of finally figuring out what the world had in store for them. The idea was depressing but true, or at least, Mark thought it was.

As the warning bell rings, Mark was pulled out of his thoughts. More students flowed into the classroom taking up the seats. Mark watched the door expectantly, waiting for a flash of green hair to show up. The final bell was almost about to ring when Jack finally walked through the door.

He watched as the irishman looked around the room for an empty seat before they both seemed to realize at the same time that the only one left that wasn’t all the way in the back was the one in front of Mark.

The two stared each other down as Jack walked over to the seat. The other male had a look on his face that Mark couldn’t quite place. He ended up putting it down as barely disguised disgust and shrunk into his seat, making himself as small as possible as Jack took his seat finally.

Jack still hated him and Mark still had no idea why. It was a crushing feeling, to know that the guy he was so deeply... in _love_ with couldn’t even stand the sight of him. Mark let out a soundless breath, mood suddenly dropping. He’d so hoped that Jack would be in the same class and now that he was, Mark couldn’t help wishing for anything else, anything but this.

Kramer cleared his throat, pulling Mark out of his thoughts.

“Hello class! Since today is our first day, I wanna take the time to get to know all of you. Now, it might seem redundant after doing this already for the ceremony, but I want everyone, alphabetically, to stand up and introduce yourself and explain your ability. Sound fun? Good, let’s get started. So...Miss Abbott, please begin.”

A girl Mark had never seen before stood up near the back of the class and introduced herself shyly as Olivia Abbott, a photokinetic, or light manipulator. There were a few ‘ohhs’ that sounded through the classroom but no one really said anything beyond that. Slowly, each student took their turn.

Mark had fallen into a lull of boredom until he heard one particular student declare their ability as a pyrokinetic. He tried to ignore the tightening in his chest and clenched his teeth. Mark had always had a problem with not having a very original power. It was one of the reasons he knew the ONA would never want him. He wasn’t special.

Well...he wasn’t the type of special he wanted to be. Instead, he was some weird freak that shouldn’t have ever existed. Mark had a secret, and a very big one at that. One that was capable of changing his life in dramatic and irreversible ways. Mark wasn’t just a pyrokinetic… He was a shapeshifter too.

The day Mark had found out about his second ability, he’d been _terrified._ It had been during the summer before his sophomore year. There was no one that wasn’t aware of the stories of those who had two abilities. They were all taken by the government and never seen or heard from again. Not that it was an everyday occurrence.

Those with two abilities were few and far between, being some of the rarest humans to exist, even rarer than the rarest single ability.

Mark had pledged that he would practice his shapeshifting ability but never tell anyone about it. One day while practicing, Amy had come over, without warning as she sometimes did, and had nearly caught him. Somehow, Mark had managed to lock himself inside of his bathroom using the limited dexterity that came with having dog paws.

He’d ended up managing to turn back in time and when Amy saw him, she questioned the fur that seemed to be on some of his clothes. He still wasn’t sure how he’d managed to convince her it was Lucy’s. Afterall, Lucy had pretty white fur and the small tufts on his clothes were a lot darker.

He wondered what it would be like to actually tell someone. It was a big secret to keep and sometimes, he just wanted to let it go. Before he could think more about it, Mark heard his name called out. It was his turn to introduce himself. Carefully, he got up from his seat, making sure he was standing up straight as everyone turned to look at him.

Every...including Jack. The other male had turned in his seat to get a better look at him and when the two made eye contact, Mark was surprised by the look he saw. Jack was... _smiling_ at him? And it wasn’t even a smirk or some kind of devious, hurtful smile. It was a genuine, honest to god smile.

Mark almost fucked him introduction, stuttering briefly over his name before finally managed to catch himself. There were no ‘oohs’ when he announced his ability like there had been with Abbott but Mark didn’t really care as much anymore.

Once he was done, he quickly sat down again and attempted to hide behind his hair. It worked at bit as it was getting pretty long, and no one paid him any mind. Mark let out a brief breath of relief before zoning back out into pleasant nothingness. The rest of the introductions went slowly but smoothly.

When it had been Jack’s turn, Mark was only barely aware, tilting his head up to look at bright blue eyes before he finally looked back down and hid his face in the circle of his arms on his desk. The bell rang just as the last kid finished up and Kramer dismissed the class with a ‘have a good day!’

Mark grabbed his things as quickly as he could before flying out the room, not taking even a moment to look back.

– ~ – 

As Mark stepped into Cinnamon Sin, he couldn’t help but breath in the smell of fresh coffee and sugary desserts. The coffee shop was owned by a friend’s family and it was the place Mark and his friends hung out at whenever they had time. Ken didn’t necessarily work here, but he was there to help out whenever he could.

Mark slid into one of the booths, taking his seat right beside Amy. The girl had been in mid-discussion with Bob about how to go about the genocide route in Undertale. Mark had heard about the game, but due to various spoilers littered about the internet, he decided to never give it a try. Hearing about it from Amy was good enough.

Everyone turned to Mark when he was finally settled, a peculiar look on their faces that left Mark feeling both confused and uncomfortable.

“So…?” Wade urged him on. Mark had no idea what they wanted him to say.

“Yes…?” Mark questioned, using the same tone Wade had. All three of his friends rolled their eyes at the same time and Mark ignored when Bob called him an idiot under his breath.

“Jack. We’re talking about Jack. Was he in your class?” Amy finally asked, clearing up the confusion. Mark’s mouth opened as he realized what they wanted.

“Ohh…” He said before blushing. That caught the attention of his friends and they all smiled. “Y-yeah, he is. He actually sits in front of me. It’s weird.” He confessed. Amy nodded her head as if to urge him to keep going. Mark wasn’t entirely sure what else was there to say until he remembered Jack’s smile.

“He...he smiled. I mean, he smiled at _me._ Kramer made up go around and introduce ourselves and when it was my turn… He turned and smiled at me. It was weird. I mean, I thought he hated me, but then he did that? It was confusing.” He explained. Amy let out a small squeak and when he turned to look at her, she was grinning almost ear to ear. He narrowed his eyes at her, unamused by her happiness.

“It wasn’t a big deal. I don’t know why you guys are making it out to be one.” Mark grumbled and his friends laughed.

“We just wanna know what’s going on with you and your crush. We’re all heavily interested in your love life, having none of our own.” Wade said. Bob gave the taller man a look.

“Who said that? Bob asked before laughing. Wade just rolled his eyes.

“Well, I’m not the only one that’s crushing hard on someone.” Mark said, turning his eyes to Amy who realized where he was going with this. He knew she’d thought he’d forgotten but there was no way in hell he wasn’t going to bring up what had happened earlier in the day. Wade and Bob looked at the two of them expectantly.

“Mark...I’m not crushing hard on her.” Amy said, trying to control her face. There was a slight tinge of blush rising on her cheeks and Mark grinned.

“Oh sure, because blushing bright enough to outshine the sun in the midst of the one and only Signe Hanson isn’t crushing hard on someone, right?” He asked, enjoying this immensely. Amy’s blush began to deepen and she tried to hide her face behind her hands. Mark decided to let her off a bit easy, only wanting to tease her for a bit to get at all the teasing he got when he’d first told her about Jack.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I just wish you’d told us earlier. I mean, you were the first person I told about Jack, and I only learned about Signe ‘cause you literally face planted into her chest today.” He said, voice a bit more serious. Bob and Wade’s eyes widened at the ‘face plant into chest’ part but he ignored them.

“I...I wasn’t sure. I’ve never felt this way before and I just-” Amy stopped short when Mark put his hand up.

“It’s okay. I’m just glad I know now.” He said. The blonde nodded her head as Cry walked over just in time.

Cry was another senior that went to the same school as them. He was a quiet kid with an actual name that no one really used other than a few teachers. There were some people who didn’t even know his actual name and thought it actually was Cry.

Mark had met the other guy during the middle of his junior year when Mark nearly rammed into him in his car. After that, the two became friends. It was a weird relationship, but the two enjoyed telling the story of how they’d met.

“So...black for Bob, caramel for Amy, two sugars and no milk for Wade, and cinnamon caramel for the guy who’s gonna die from a sugar rush one day.” Cry read the orders dryly before grinning at the group. Mark glared up at him, taking an obnoxious gulp of his drink once it was handed to him.

Mark’s love for all things sweet and sugary was a common joke everyone liked to make. It was odd, seeing as how Mark was naturally a muscular guy and no matter what he ate, he never seemed to gain any weight.

“Hello Cry, how was your day.” He asked bitterly. Cry grinned again.

“Good now that you’re here for me to mess with. How was your first day of afternoon classes?” He asked. Cry was a Class D, Level 4 speedster, the only other Class D Mark knew other than Amy. Bob was first the answer.

“Ridiculously stupid. I’m pretty sure almost everyone in my class is an idiot. Even Wade would do better than them, and Wade’s a Level 3.” Mark watched as Wade struggled to tell if that was a compliment or not. He ended up choosing the former. “There is this one guy that’s a decent telekinetic. Forgot his name, though. Roger? Robby?”

Mark instantly knew who he was talking about. “Robin. Robin Torkar.” Mark knew the guy about as well as he could.

With all of his casual stalking of Jack, he knew Robin a part of the trio that completed Jack’s group of friends. Amy had told him about how he’d confessed to a girl she was friends with and how much fun it was to glare at him to see if he’d wimp out. Mark sometimes wondered if his friend was as sweet and innocent as she said she was.

Bob nodded. “Yeah, him. He seems like a cool guy.” He said.

The group continued their conversation about their day as Cry went back to work. The door to the cafe would open and close occasionally as customers walked in and out. During mid-sentence, Mark felt Amy nudge his shoulder and nod in the direction of the entrance. When he turned to see what she was looking at, his chest tightened.

Jack had walked in, smiling that same blinding smile he almost always seemed to have as he laughed at something Robin said. Mark could barely hear Bob mention Robin, his attention fully on the Irishman who’d walked in.

Before Mark could look away and hide the fact that he’d been staring, Jack turned and met his gaze. All he could do was smile shyly, surprised when Jack did the same.

* * *

Jack leaned casually against the wall of lockers on the third floor with books held tightly in his arms. He didn’t know why he was here, other than to be a temporary bookshelf for Signe as she shuffled through her locker trying to find what she needed.

“And this is why Robin is never allowed to share my locker again. I swear, I’m going to ask for a new lock. It’s a mess!” She complained. Jack grinned. Signe wasn’t really a clean freak, but it didn’t mean she liked a mess either. Robin wasn’t necessarily the most orderly guy they knew.

“I told you at the beginning of the year. You just chose not to believe me.” Jack said. Signe looked out at him through the curtain of her hair.

“Hush, I don’t need your sass.” She said, before returning back to her search. Jack laughed. Messing with Signe was one of his greater joys in life.

“So, excited for the first day of your afternoon courses?” She asked, finally packing the books into her locker that Jack had been holding. The irishman blushed a bit and Signe smirked. “You’re still wondering if he’s gonna be in the same class, aren’t you?” She asked knowingly.

Jack wanted to scoff and roll his eyes, but Signe knew him too well to believe a lie. He nodded instead of answering out loud and her gaze softened.

“Don’t worry too much about it. I’m sure he will be.” She reassured him. Jack smiled at his friend.

“Thanks. Anyway, I should get going and you should be going home.” He said. Afternoon courses were a senior specific thing and Signe was still a junior.

She shook her head. “Not yet, I wanna walk you to your classroom. I haven’t ever been in the senior wing before. Apparently, there are different types of training classrooms and I wanna see if I can peek into one of them and check it out.” Signe said, rubbing her hands together. Jack just laughed, letting her lead the way.

Before Jack could actually reach his classroom, just two more doors down, he heard someone call his name. Upon turning around, it turned out to be Robin who panted, leaning forward with his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

“J-Jack, I wanted t-to tell you something.” He said in between breaths. Signe shrugged and pushed Jack in the direction of Robin, the look on her face a silent ‘go-help-him’. Jack nodded and put a handle on his friend’s shoulder, pulling him down the hall near the staircase.

“What happened that’s got you so all outta breath?” Jack asked. Robin grinned and Jack quirked an eyebrow at him, not sure what could possibly make his friend this happy.

“She said yes.” Robin blurted out, like he couldn’t contain himself. Jack stood confused for a moment before remembering the girl Robin had mentioned liking before. He smiled.

“That’s awesome, Robin. I told you you’d be fine.” Jack said. Robin bounced on his heels, continuing to grin.

“Yeah, thanks a lot. That other girl, Amy, she was there too. Turns out she’s not as scary as I thought she was.” He said before stopping. “Hey...I know this is slightly off topic, but did you know that Amy and Mark are close?” He asked.

Jack was surprised by the mention of Mark, but he slowly shook his head.

“I knew they were friend, but close?” He asked. Robin nodded.

“Yeah. After I confessed, I heard Amy quickly mention that she had to go meet Mark soon and Lana, the girl I like. Did I ever mention her name? Whatever, I’m off topic. _Lana_ just seemed to shake her head and say how she never spent enough time with her and was always with Mark, that she must like him. Amy blushed and told her that was nonsense before running off.” He blabbed.

Jack felt like someone had stabbed through his chest. Mark had a girlfriend…? He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time and felt stupid. Afterall, why had be automatically assumed Mark was gay? When he didn’t give any sort of reaction, Robin frowned, worried.

“Oh man, I shouldn’t have told you that.” He said to himself. Jack forced a smile on his face and shook his head.

“No, I’m fine. I’m glad you did.” He said. Robin tried to respond, but as he opened his mouth, the warning bell rang. Jack just patted his friend on the shoulder before walking back to class.

He wouldn’t think this over too much. Maybe Amy had just blushed because it was weird for someone to think that she was into Mark. It had happened to Signe before, where someone had accused her and Jack of dating. She’d blushed only in discomfort, not in shy admission. Jack shook the feeling from his spine and counted to ten before entering the classroom.

The first thing he noticed was a certain guy was in his class. The second that there were no empty seats close enough to the front to be able to see. The third that the only good seat left was in front of said certain guy: Mark.

Despite his conversation with Robin, Jack was undeniably happy. He walked over to the seat slowly, trying to conceal that happiness from being too obvious on his face. As he sat down, the final bell marking the beginning of class rung. Jack could feel a hot gaze across his neck but he refused to look.

Mr. Kramer took a look around the classroom, grinned, and began to speak.

“Hello class! Since today is our first day, I wanna take the time to get to know all of you. Now, it might seem redundant after doing this already for the ceremony, but I want everyone, alphabetically, to stand up and introduce yourself and explain your ability. Sound fun? Good, let’s get started. So...Miss Abbott, please begin.”

Jack listened at the girl, Olivia Abbott, introduced herself. He was always interested in hearing about other people’s abilities. Despite being able to do so during the Classification ceremony, his attention had been taken by Signe and Robin.

Students went one at a time, going around the classroom. At some point, a boy stood up and declared himself a pyrokinetic, sparking Jack’s interest a bit. Pyro’s were some of the most common ability types within the B Class. Jack wondered what that was like...having someone with the same ability as him.

Throughout all his years, Jack had never met another sound manipulator. Sure, he’d heard of them, but never once had he actually met one.

Growing up, it was hard to gain a handle on his abilities. None of his other siblings were even Class B and his parents were both aerokinetics. It took a long time of self study to be able to attain the level of control he had now, and he was quite proud of himself. When he was younger, he hated his ability, but now it was something he loved greatly.

Regardless, there were still times where he wondered...what if? It didn’t take him long to shake the question from his mind as he heard Mark’s name be called. He listened to the scrape of the chair behind him, and before he could think too much about it, turned around and smiled. Jack watched as Mark...blushed and smiled shyly back at him. He hadn’t been expecting that and felt slightly giddy.

Mark stumbled through his introduction, but Jack turned back around before Mark sat down.

He’d just done that. He’d just smiled at Mark and made him _blush_ . Made him _smile._

Jack almost grinned to himself, not really knowing how to process what had just happened. Did that mean Mark didn’t hate him? If so, that would be amazing.

Jack was lost in his thoughts before he was pulled back to reality by the sound of his name. Clearing his throat, he stood and spoke.

“My name Seàn McLoughlin, but please just call me Jack, and I’m a sound manipulator.” He said, introducing himself. He heard a few people whispering to each other and a couple ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ around the room. Jack couldn’t help shifting on his feet, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to stand anymore and the next student was called. Jack tried to pay attention to the rest of his classmates but ended up zoning out until the bell rang. Mr. Kramer dismissed the class with a quick ‘have a good day!’

Jack picked up his bag from where he’d dropped it carelessly on the ground and almost missed Mark zooming out of the classroom without a backwards glance.

\- ~ - 

As it turned out, Signe had never left the school and had hung around in the library in order to wait for Jack and Robin. It was a pain being the junior in the group, but she worked around it. Jack was surprised when he noticed her hanging around Robin’s locker.

“Why are you still here?” He asked her as he walked over. Signe shrugged and pulled her bag higher over her shoulder as it began to slip off.

“Oh, you know, I just wanted to hang out with my two favorite boys and hear about their day, is all.” She said with a smile. Jack knew what she was actually here for. She wanted to know about Mark. Instead of blabbing about it right there and then, he decided to wait.

It didn’t take long for Robin to appear next, surprised as well to see Signe. Unlike Jack, he didn’t question it and just opened his locker. “So, I’m hungry. And I’m craving coffee. Wanna go to Cinnamon Sin?” He said, pulling his books from his locker and putting away unnecessary ones.

Jack had initially been confused about why Robin would need to share a locker with Signe as he had one of his own, but looking inside, the reason was obvious.

Robin’s locker was cluttered with drawing and sketches of different things, all stuffed along his shelves in any way they would fit. Robin had always been a talented artist, and he’d recently been getting into animation. From what Jack had seen so far, he was good.

Jack thought about the offer but Signe replied before him.

“Sure. Cry is probably working, so it would be nice to see him too.” She said, fixing her bag again. Jack wasn’t sure why she wore that thing if it constantly annoyed her.

With Signe’s approval, Robin nodded. “Cool, I’ll drive.” He said, as though anyone else would offer, having no car of their own. He closed his locker and threw one strap over his shoulder before the three made their way down the hall to the student parking lot.

It wasn’t a big space as only seniors were allowed cars on the school grounds. Robin didn’t take long to find his car and the three all got in, Jack taking shotgun with Signe in the back.

“So....Mark.” Signe said when no one really spoke. Jack almost grinned but stopped before he could get ahead of himself. He started off slow.

“Yeah, you were right. He’s in my class.” Jack said. Signe gave him a look that meant ‘go-on’ and so Jack did, watching Robin nod out of the corner of his eye.

“And I sit in front of him...and smiled at him.” He continued. Signe’s eyes widened at that.

“What does that mean? You just turned in your seat and _smiled_?” Robin asked. Jack twiddled his thumbs in his lap, knowing he was making a big deal out of a small moment.

“Yeah. We were taking turns to introduce ourselves, and when it was his turn, I looked at him and smiled. And he...he blushed and smiled back.” Jack finished. Robin and Signe made twin sounds of celebration, prompting Jack to look at his friends like they were insane.

“What? It’s not that big of a deal…” He tried to say, but Signe shook her head.

“Of course it it. That means that all those times you thought he hated you weren’t true. And he _blushed!_ Maybe he likes you back.” She said excitedly. Jack shook his head like that was the stupidest idea he’d ever heard.

“That’s impossible. Just because he blushed, doesn’t mean he _likes_ me,” Jack said. “And it was just a small smile. Maybe he was just being ni–” He shut up when he saw the look on Signe’s face.

“Stop right there. You really need to look at the positive of things.” She told him and Jack sighed. Maybe Signe was right. Maybe Mark did like him. He couldn’t help but truly wish that were true, even when he knew that if it weren’t, it would shred his heart to pieces.

He sighed again as Robin turned into the parking lot of their favorite coffee shop. It was run by a friend’s, Ken’s, family and they’d all been going there since Signe was in her freshman year. Another friend, Cry, worked there as well most days and they made the effort to try and visit.

Stepping out of the car, both Signe and Robin told him they’d continue the conversation later. Jack realized there was no way of getting out of it and agreed, and the three entered the shop.

As they waited in line to order their usuals: for Jack, straight black; for Robin, milk and a shot of caramel; and Signe, a caramel latte, the three talked about their day. Robin mentioned a guy in his class who he’d originally thought was a dick but turned out to be a pretty funny dude.

“Yeah, his name is Bob.” He’d said, and Jack automatically knew who he was talking about, but said nothing. Signe went on about her day, and as Jack laughed at a joke she made, she nudged his shoulder and nodded in the direction of the booths near the front windows of the cafe.

When Jack turned, he was greeted by the sight of Mark, smiling shyly at him once more. Jack could only return the favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooooh, Mark's second power has been revealed. What the third one is? Only time will tell
> 
> Also. Yay! Jack and Mark are beginning to warm up to each other!
> 
> And I just wanna warn you guys...this is gonna be a long ride. I have SO much I wanna do with this story and I hope I can manage. I'm real excited and I hope you are too. 
> 
> My Tumblr if you wanna talk: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/theworldinallitshonestterrors


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO SORRY THIS HAS TAKEN SO LONG. I just got all caught up with the prompts thing plus my laziness and college things and senior shit and APs all at once. I'm sorry, BUT HEY, HERE'S A NEW CHAPTER. Jack's part is a bit shorter, but that's cause I didn't wanna repeat ALL the dialogue from Mark's part (even though I still put in most of it), but I hope you like!

Mark knew what to expect when he turned to look back at his friends and so when he did, all he could really do was let out an annoyed sigh. He slumped down heavily in his seat, quite bewildered and stunned by what had just happened. Jack had...Jack had _smiled_ at him. For the _second_ time that day.

He wasn’t all that sure how to process that information. Mark reached out to grab his coffee, gulping down the sugary substance while barely tasting any of it at all. Lost in his thoughts, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt someone touch him. His straw had still been in his mouth as well, causing Mark to gag slightly.

He looked up with a glare, angry at whoever had disrupted his thoughts before seeing who it was. Jack….Jack McLoughin was standing there in front of him, wearing a very fitting blue button down over worn jeans.

Mark wasn’t all into putting together clothes that looked good together, once choosing a hawaiian shirt with patterned shorts to wear out on vacation. Amy had threatened to fly over to where he was and slap him if he didn’t change immediately.

But no, here was the crush of his life standing before him with a small smile on his face as he looked at Mark. Mark was so caught up in this that it took him a while to realize that the irishman wasn’t alone. Flanking Jack on both sides, almost like he were the leader of their foreign gang, were Signe and Robin. They both had friendly smiles of their own.

Mark almost choked again, though this time on air, when Jack spoke. It was literally just one word, and he was almost ready to melt to the ground like putty. _Why does he have this kind of effect on me…._

“H-hi.” Jack said, sounding a bit awkward, but friendly nonetheless. Mark turned his attention to Amy, trying to signal for help, but when he connected her line of sight, she was too busy looking at Signe. Mark resisted the urge to sigh and looked back towards Jack and co.

Before he could say anything, Bob and Wade stood up. “Sorry to leave so soon, but me and Wade have got to head out. We’ve already finished our drinks and our parents are a bit strict about being on time to come home. Why don’t you take our seats? I don’t think Amy and Mark are leaving quite yet.” Bob told the group.

Never before had Mark wanted to simultaneously hug and punch a person. Today was a first.

Mark was confused as to why exactly Jack and his friends would even say yes in the first place. There were literally several other free spaces for them to sit where they wouldn’t be forced to awkwardly entertain company. To his surprise, Robin ended up saying yes.

The swede slid his way into where Wade had originally been sitting and Mark watched in stunned silence as Signe followed his lead. He could barely hear Bob and Wade’s goodbyes as they edged their way out of the coffeeshop.

Jack was still standing, Mark realized belatedly. He thought of using it towards his advantage to try and leave with Amy and give him space, but before he could, Robin spoke.

“Why don’t you sit next to Mark? There’s not enough space on this side.” He said, giving a smile that wasn’t necessarily all good intentions. There was something devious about it that Mark couldn’t quite place.

Regardless, he was more caught up on the fact that Robin had told Jack to sit next to him because hello? Amy was in the row too and how exactly were they going to fit? Mark looked up to see a conflicted look on Jack’s face but the irishman finally slid into the small space left in the row, back rigid and body looking uncomfortable.

Mark shifted closer to Amy, trying to give him more room. He couldn’t help but think of the hundreds of things he’d rather be doing than this right now.

Mark could feel his body gradually heating up and he tried to grapple the control over his ability before it could flare up and cause damage. Normally, he had very good control over his body temperature and keeping his ability in check, but with the object of his affections in such close range, Mark could feel it slipping from his grasp.

Amy’s hand on his lower back was an instant relief and Mark regained his composure, using the skin contact as a grounding force, something to hold onto. Amy had always been the one to know when Mark was close to losing control and vice versa.

They’d formed a system early on that helped each other out when they were close to losing grip on their control. It was a touch based thing, where Amy would put her hand on his lower back and he would gently place his hand on the back of her neck.

According to Bob, it had made the two look like a couple the first time it had happened in school, when Mark had to stop Amy from literally flying out of a window. They’d both shrugged off the idea. They were just close friends, simple as that.

When Mark managed to fully recover, body temperature back to normal, he finally caught onto the conversation.

“So tell me this: We’re all seniors, except for Signe of course, and yet we’ve never hung out before. That’s just...not cool. I mean, you both seem like pretty chill people and I feel like I’ve missed out on a lot.” Robin said, looking at Mark and Amy.

“Well, you know how it is with highschoolers. We form our groups and we tend to stick to them. It’s like a social rule, you know?” Amy answered. Signe nodded in understanding.

“I see what you mean. We’re all pretty pack based. Rarely is there ever any sort of mingling, so I feel like the very cool exception to the rule.” She said. Mark turned to look at Amy as she blushed slightly and nodded.

“Yeah…” She trailed off. Mark saw the look of victory on Signe’s face and wondered briefly what it was for before realizing. He was going to have a field day with this later, once they were out of this awkward situation.

The conversation continued casually, everyone putting in their own ideas, including Jack and Mark, although a bit less frequently. Finally, Signe asked a question.

“So, as you’re all seniors, do any of you know what you wanna do after graduation?”

Mark, surprising himself, was the first to answer. “I was hoping to be recruited by the ONA.” He said before laughing briefly. “It’s a dumb dream, really. I mean, I’m just a pyro. It’s impossible.” Mark resisted the urge to look at Amy, already aware of what look she’d have on her face. It was one he’d seen many times every time he mentioned the impossibility of him being recruited.

Mark didn’t understand why Amy still urged him that it was possible. The ONA only ever recruited those with rarer abilities, or people with exceptional control. The only way Mark knew he could ever be even considered was if he trained hard enough to gain absolute control or he...or he came out about his second ability.

He scrapped the thought as soon as it popped into his head. There was no way he could do that. No way at all. Not if he wanted to ever see his family and friends again.

“The ONA?” Jack asked. Mark almost jumped in his seat when he heard Jack speak directly to him, breaking him from his thoughts. Out of everyone, Jack had been the last person he’d expected to respond first.

“Y-Yeah.” Mark said, not knowing how else to respond.

“I was actually hoping to join the ONA too. I’ve heard they have a vigorous recruitment process. They only accept about….5 graduates per year or so? It’s intense, but hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we both got in?” Jack asked. Mark blushed.

“Y-yeah, but it’s improbable for me. You, on the other hand… You’re the only sound manipulator I’ve ever met.” He confessed. A look crossed the irishman’s face, but it was gone before Mark could figure out what it was.

“Having a unique ability isn’t always all that fun, ya know. Sucks, ‘cause there’s no one there to teach you about it, and you end up all on your own.” Jack said. Mark had never thought about it that way and felt instantly bad. Still, being a pyro in a world full of pyros, there were pros and cons to both sides of the coin.

“Yeah, I can understand that, even if I’m on the opposite end.” He said. Jack seemed to perk up at that. “I mean, it’s nice that I can rely on someone, but it also takes all the amazement out of what a pyrokinetic can do. There’s nothing new. Whatever I think I come up with, there’s already someone out there who’s done it, and done it better.” Mark explained.

A look of understanding crossed the eyes of everyone at the table. Amy, as a flyer, was in the mid-range of abilities. Bob and Wade were what one would consider mid/high-range, depending on their future control over what they could do. Jack was a high range, and Mark was low. He wasn’t entirely sure about Signe and Robin.

The rest of the table discussed their possible futures and Mark sunk back into his seat, glad Amy’s hand was still at his back. When the two were finished with their drinks, they said their brief goodbyes to the rest and got up, awkwardly skirting around Jack as he had to stand to let them through.

Driving home was a surprisingly relaxed experience. Amy barely asked him about how he was feeling, and Mark was thankful. The whole conversation with Jack had been...pleasant. Definitely the last thing he would have expected to have happened.

When Mark dropped Amy home, he gave her a bright smile and kiss on the cheek.

“Today was...fun.” He said after a few moments of silence. She smiled back nodded.

“Yeah, it was.”

\---

When Mark walked into his room, he dropped his bag haphazardly onto the floor and let out a long sigh. The sugar from the coffee was giving him a high and he knew he had to get rid of the pent up energy some way.

It wasn’t unusual for him to come home and practice his abilities. Despite Mark’s reservations about the ONA ever recruiting him, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t still try his best to catch their attention. One of the most famous agents was a pyro and she’d gotten her position not by sitting around and moping.

Mark walked from his room into the basement where his brother had helped him set up a fireproof for him to practice. It was small, but enough for Mark to be comfortable.

He started off with the basics, concentrating the heat of his core into his fingertips before igniting them. The effect always looked cool, and the first time he’d done it when he was a kid had been one of the best moments of his life.

Next, he fused his lit fingertips together to form a ball in his palm and through it up into the air before catching it with his other hand. He continued this for a while, getting use to the subtle weight of the fire. It felt good against his hands.

He made two and began to crush them together, causing sparks to shoot out. For Mark, controlling bigger flames was a lot easier than smaller ones, and concentrated hard to stop the sparks from falling to the ground, instead making them almost dance in the air. He liked doing this in the dark, the effect looking almost enchanted.

Mark spent a good hour playing with his fire before he turned the lights on. Though he was a bit tired, he had other things to do. Not only did he practice his pyrokinetic abilities, but his shapeshifting ones too.

It was a bit harder. Mark had meant it when he understood what Jack had said about rare abilities sucking sometimes, finally realizing it. Shapeshifting was a high-range ability, and there were two versions of it: human shapeshifting and animal shapeshifting. Mark was the latter and quite happy with that fact. He’d always liked animals and being able to actually _be_ one of them was pretty cool.

The first thing he turned into was a fuzzy black ferret, clothing Almost instantly, Mark’s surroundings towered over him and he shrunk into his tiny form. The first time Mark had shifted, it had been entirely uncontrollable and left him doubled over in pain as his body shifted and his bones broke, rearranging themselves into a different form.

He had been the mirror image of Lucy, though instead of the bright white fur she had, Mark was a dark glossy black, reminiscent of his hair. It took him an hour to change back and thankfully, he’d been the only one home that day.

Ever since then, the pain of shifting gradually diminished and the shift took less than a minute, depending on what form he decided to take. Ferrets were one of his favorite, due to being so tiny and fast. If Thomas ever came close to finding him, he could just jet beneath a couch. It was also a form that allowed his to get rid of a lot of pent up energy, running around in circles while jumping around the basement.

He got tired pretty fast but didn’t want to finish quite yet, turning into a cat next. Cats were probably also a favorite due to his increased agility and grace. He jumped carefully from the floor to a shelf along the wall, gracefully avoiding hitting anything.

Mark walked along the shelves of for a bit, brushing his fluffy tail along the books before making a lunge towards the couch. He landed without too much effort and let out a satisfied _meow_ before hopping back onto the ground. He did it a few more times before exhaustion hit and he shifted back to normal.

Mark grabbed his phone and opened up his text messages before hitting Amy’s names. He texted her asking to hang out over the weekend and closed his phone, planning to take a long nap before he woke up again to shower. It had been a long day, but a rather good one.

Walking back up the stairs and through the kitchen, Mark felt a heavy presence over him. He tried glancing out his kitchen window, but there was nothing there. The few minutes after changing back, Mark always had his senses on higher alert, but he ignored it. It was probably nothing.

* * *

 Jack stood there awkwardly as he watched Mark turn back to his friends and almost sink into his seat and though to hide. He forced himself to look away and grab his drink. As they started walking over to where the tables were, Jack almost choked.

Robin had a firm grip on his shoulder as he led Jack right towards where Mark and his friends were seated. He tried to pull away, but Robin had a good grasp on his and refused to let go. In a last ditch effort, Jack looked at Signe, putting on his best pleading face, but his friend wasn’t looking at him, but rather at Amy.

Jack knew his best friend pretty well. They’d known each other for much too long and it was incredibly hard for her to be able to hide something from him, and this moment just added to that. While Signe was good at showing a neutral face, Jack could see through it. The smile she had on her lips was much more than just a friendly one. It was flirty.

Knowing it was useless to try and protest any longer, Jack let Robin finally tug him all the way over to the table. His arm briefly brushed against Mark’s, causing him to suck in a sharp breath and when the other man looked up at him, Jack was shocked by the rather harsh glare he was given.

However, as soon as the expression had appeared, it was gone, replaced by embarrassment and a partially opened mouth resulting from what Jack could only assume was shock. Mark was looking especially adorable, his dark hair a bit tousled most likely from him running his hands through it so much.

It was longer than Jack’s, and fell partially over the taller man’s eyes. He was wearing a red plaid button down and the top few buttons were undone, enough for one to see the top of his chest, but not enough to be seen as inappropriate. Jack couldn’t help the image of seeing Mark naked in front of his and quickly banished the thought. Now was _not_ the time.

Jack forced himself to speak before he could stare for too long. “H-hi.” He said awkwardly. He really wished he wasn’t in this situation and there was also part of him that was thrilled. He was in front of Mark! He was talking to him! There was a long silence before one of Mark’s friends stood up and spoke.

“Sorry to leave so soon, but me and Wade have got to head out. We’ve already finished out drink and our parents are a bit strict about being on time to come home. Why don’t you take our seats? I don’t think Amy and Mark are leaving just yet.” He said.

Jack was a bit confused. The way the guy had spoken, it was like he was forcing himself to leave. Despite the randomness, he said nothing about it and instead opened his mouth to decline the offer.

“Sure! Thanks man.” Robin said, completely ruining Jack’s plan. What the hell was his friend thinking? There was no way Jack could sit next to Mark. One, it would be incredibly awkward and uncomfortable, and two, there was not enough space to sit! There were so many other free seats around, and Jack knew the swede was doing thing on purpose to torture him.

As the two of Mark’s friends left with a wave, Robin slid into the seat, as well as Signe. When Jack tried to follow and squeeze in beside them, Signe pushed him off and gave him a bright smile. He gave her a panicked look, but she said nothing, instead nodding her head towards Mark.

Shit, he knew what they were trying to do, and he was going to kill them both. Slowly, and he was definitely going to enjoy every last minute of it.

“Why don’t you sit next to Mark? There’s not enough space on this side.” Robin said, voice cheery. Jack wanted to punch him in the teeth, but he refrained, instead turning to Mark and Amy. Carefully, he slid in beside them, sitting as close to the edge as possible without falling off the seat entirely. His entire body was stiff.

Jack felt as Mark pushed in closer to Amy and watched as the blonde almost sat half in the man’s lap. An unconscious flare of jealousy hit him and he was shocked by how sudden and violent it was. He had no idea what he was even jealous of. It wasn’t like he and Mark were in a relationship…

Despite his discomfort from being thrown into this situation by his asshole friends, Jack could feel the temperature towards his right slowly growing higher. The only plausible cause could be Mark and Jack watched as Amy placed a protective hand at the base of his spine, almost in a comforting manner.

He couldn’t help but wonder if Amy and Mark were dating. The evidence was all there by the way the two interacted with each other, but Jack didn’t want it to be real. It couldn’t have been true. There were too many rumours of Amy being gay. But if they were, it would make the entire Signe having a crush on her thing a bit more complicated.

“So tell me this: We’re all seniors, except for Signe of course, and yet we’ve never hung out before. That’s just...not cool. I mean, you both seem like pretty chill people and I feel like I’ve missed out on a lot.” Robin said, breaking Jack from his thoughts. He was looking at Amy and Mark as he asked the question, obviously trying to start a conversation to end the uncomfortable silence.

Amy was the one to answer, though Jack paid no mind to her. With him sitting this close to Mark, he really couldn’t think of much else. Even in Kramer’s class, they weren’t this close. If Jack leaned just a _bit_ more to the right, he’d be pressing into the other man, and the thought sent a thrill through him.

The conversation went on for a bit, getting gradually better as everyone started to get over the awkwardness. Jack himself managed to say a few things, though Amy, Signe, and Robin were the one who spoke the most. When Signe finally asked what everyone planned on doing after high school, Jack started to pay more attention. Especially because Mark was the one to speak first.

“I was hoping to be recruited by the ONA.” He said and laughed almost humorlessly to himself. “It’s a dumb dream, really. I mean, I’m just a pyro. It’s impossible.”

Jack’s attention was caught. That was the same government group that Jack hoped to once join. It was an odd coincidence that Mark happened to want the same thing. And Mark’s skepticism over his recruitment was a bit sad to hear, though it was a possibility. The group was incredibly selective, and only the best of the best were ever even reviewed for the position.

“The ONA?” Jack asked when no one else spoke. This was his chance to actually talk to Mark properly for once.

“Y-Yeah.” The other man stuttered.

“I was actually hoping to join the ONA too. I’ve heard they have a vigorous recruitment process. They only accept about….5 graduates per year or so? It’s intense, but hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we both got in?” Jack asked optimistically.

He thought about it for a brief second, their graduation ceremony where the ONA Recruiter would go around and call out their names, appointing them as the newest agents in training. It felt like a silly daydream.

Mark pulled him back to reality, mentioning his limited chances and Jack’s own advantages. It was true. Jack had a higher chance with his ability being a high-range one. Mark’s was low, though there was still a possibility if he managed to gain absolute control over his fire.

It was an incredibly difficult feat, however, only about 11 percent of the population being able to do it. Those who trained too hard ended up as Level 7s or higher with their ability consuming them.

“Having a unique ability isn’t always all that fun, ya know. Sucks, ‘cause there’s no one there to teach you about it, and you end up all on your own.” Jack said finally. He had hated his ability at times, always wondering why he was cursed with one no one he knew seemed to have.

The internet had been his friend throughout his early teenage years, aiding him in his attempt to learn more about sound manipulation. As Jack grew up, he learned to really like it, though there were times when he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be something else.

“Yeah, I can understand that, even if I’m on the opposite end.” Mark said after a moment of silence, surprising Jack. “I mean, it’s nice that I can rely on someone, but it also takes all the amazement out of what a pyrokinetic can do. There’s nothing new. Whatever I think I come up with, there’s already someone out there who’s done it, and done it better.”

Jack nodded his head in understanding and noticed that everyone else at the table seemed to have the same look in their eyes.

They moved on from that course of conversation, chatting idly for a while before Mark and Amy announced that they had to leave. Jack stood to allow them to slide out and sat back down, waving as they left. He couldn’t deny the pang of sadness to see Mark go, but he ignored it, turning back to his friends.

The interaction had gone a lot better than he’d ever thought it could have. Jack was kind of glad Robin had forced them to sit with Mark and his friends and when he looked at, Robin was grinning ear to ear while Signe had her own smug look on her face.

“Not so bad, right?” She asked, and Jack couldn’t help his own smile.

“Fine, you win. It was good. I…I think I realized why I like him so much again.” He confessed. Mark was incredibly smart. Despite his shy nature and limited moment in which he spoke, whenever he did, Jack couldn’t help but listen. It was like the other man demanded attention, attention Jack could do nothing but give.

When Signe noticed the look on his face, her smile softened. “You’re in deep.” She said, not a question, but a statement. Jack nodded slowly. He really was.

\---

Jack was exhausted when he got home. The first thing he did was play some random music and throw himself on the bed where he continued to lay for a long time, thoughts running miles up and down his head.

With _19-2000_ playing in the background, Jack replayed the events of the coffee shop back in his over and over again. His first real experience with Mark since that day in physics….

He paused in his thoughts for a moment and sat up. _Physics…_ It took him a moment before Jack realized just how much of an idiot he’d been. The entire time, Jack had assumed Mark had been pissed at him for whatever had happened that day, but maybe…

After the incident, Jack had requested to change partners because he’d assumed Mark had felt uncomfortable with him, but Jack had never thought that maybe that wasn’t the case. And when Mark had found out, he’d most likely assumed that Jack hated him and thus ignored him and stayed away until now.

Jack let out a frustrated groan and threw a pillow over his head. He’d been so stupid. So so stupid. He continued to berate himself as the song ended and he finally fell asleep, the last thought in his head being, _I’ll make this right._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Uma, I had to mention Gorillaz. Who do you think I am?
> 
> Also, these are the classifications I'm using for those who are curious: 
> 
> Class A: Psychic Abilities  
> \- Telepathy/Telekinesis  
> \- Empathy  
> \- Premonition/Clairvoyance  
> Class B: Elemental Abilities  
> \- Pyro/Aero/Terra/Hyrdo-kinetics  
> \- Electricity/Sound/Weather  
> \- Manipulation  
> Class C: Physical Abilities  
> \- Shapeshifting  
> \- Invisibility  
> \- Enhanced Physical Stats  
> Class D: Space and Time Abilities  
> \- Teleportation/Flight  
> \- Speed  
> \- Brief Time Travel  
> Class E: Multi Ability  
> \- Having more than one ability
> 
> Levels go from 1-10. 6 means strong control over your ability and everything above means your ability has started to consume you or take you over. 
> 
> A person with 2 abilities can be a Level 7, meaning absolute control for them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise in advance for how shitty and late this chapter if. I wish I could make it better but...

Amy was up early, as she normally was. It was pretty hard for her to wake up late, no matter the day nor what time she even went to bed in the first place. 

She was like a machine, Wade once told her, capable of basic human functions even when running on barely three hours of sleep. It was kind of the truth, but she always ended up crashing near the end of the day when the exhaustion finally hit.

Regardless, she was up early, standing in front of her best friend’s bedroom door as she knocked patiently before twisting the knob.

Mark was a lump among a twist of sheets on the bed, face mashed in his pillow as he continued to sleep despite what could only be described as a very uncomfortable position. Amy had seem him like this too many times to count, so it wasn’t a shock. 

Instead of shaking him awake, she sat by his desk and pulled out her phone before scrolling and selecting a contact in her phone. Within seconds, Mark’s phone started ringing, loud and shrill. The sound was annoying and just as it reached the point of making her ears bleed, Mark reached for his device, flicking the  _ answer _ button and put it to his ear. 

“And to what do I owe this pleasure?” Mark’s voice was deeper than usual, a timber most likely caused by the fact that he was only half asleep. It was the type of voice you wanted telling you stories, both fantasy and horror. 

He’d barely moved from his position on the bed, face still partially pushed into his pillow. Shockingly, his voice was still clear through the phone, though Amy couldn’t help but wonder if the reason she could hear him so well was because she happened to be in the same room. 

Amy ended the call and stood. “Thought we could go for a walk.” She said out loud, resisting the urge to laugh when Mark jumped from his position in bed. The sheets tangled around his body became even more twisted as he fought to pull them off, flailing like a headless chicken for a bit. He managed to correct himself and turned to look at her, eyes wide and hair in disarray. 

“Amy! Jeez, you need to stop doing that and just call me when you’re  _ on your way  _ instead of  _ in  _ my damn bedroom.” He said, sounding almost out of breath. His voice was more of his normal tone, though his lower register seemed to poke out occasionally. 

Amy shrugged and grinned. They’d been friends long enough to know that he wasn’t mad, but still, he should have been used to this by now. She’d made quite the habit of showing up in his room unannounced. 

The first time it had happened, Mark had screamed so loud, Lucy had come running into the room ready to defend against the attacker. He’d even fallen onto the ground which wasn’t so bad of a drop, seeing as how his bed was pretty low. Now, it seemed to be more of a running joke than an actual complaint. 

“Anyway, get up. I wanna go for a walk. It’s pretty nice outside and it seems like Lucy could use some time in the outdoors. She was itching for a run when she saw me..” She told him. Mark let out a huff but nodded, though he still grumbled lowly under his breath as he stood. 

Amy couldn’t quite hear what he was saying, but it didn’t matter. He was getting up, and that meant that her plan was slowly sliding into place. See, Amy wasn’t really  _ just _ here to go for a walk. 

She’d been aching to tell him ever since he’d caught the signs, but there was never a good enough time for her to come clean. The previous night when he’d texted her asking to hang out today, she’d finally decided it was now or never. 

In her mind, Amy already knew Mark would be accepting, but still, there was some part of her that had to know for sure. 

It didn’t take long for Mark to get ready. She watched as he threw on a random shirt he saw on the floor as well as a pair of jeans that were slung over the back of the chair she’d been sitting on. Pulling on his shoes next, they walked down the stairs together to where Thomas was sitting at the table, groggy from lack of sleep. 

“Have fun, and don’t kill the dog.” Was all he said as Amy collected Lucy’s leash and attached it to the overexcited pup’s collar. Mark rolled his eyes at his brother and Amy resisted the urge to laugh at the interaction, smiling instead. Thomas was always blunt in the morning, but he tended to mellow out throughout the day, making him a rather nice guy. 

Once they were outside and halfway down the block, Mark spoke.

“So Amy… Signe.” He said. Amy instantly blushed and stopped walking, turning her head sharply to look at her best friend. Mark stopped walking as well and cocked his head at her, a teasing smile playing on his lips. “What? We’ve been friends long enough for me to read you like an open book.” He joked before turning serious. 

Lucy sat between the two of them, panting gently as she looked back and forth, curious about why they’d stopped moving. Regardless, she was quite content to stay there basking in the sun and morning breeze before they started moving again. 

Amy coughed briefly before pushing her hair out of her face. “I didn’t know it was that obvious…” She said almost to herself. Mark gave her an encouraging smile before they continued to walk. There was a dog park nearby that Lucy could run around in while they spoke. 

“Not obvious, but as I said, I can read you like a book. Just relax, I won’t bite.” He said. 

Amy nodded and twisted Lucy’s leash around her wrist to be careful not to drop it. Lucy wouldn’t necessarily run away if she did, but it was just a precaution. 

“Well, you obviously know I like Signe. I guess I’m terrible at hiding it whenever I’m around her, but I can’t help it. I mean...she’s literally perfect. She’s got the looks, the personality, and jeez, even the damn smarts.” Amy stopped and sighed. 

Mark listened patiently until she stopped and spoke up. “You know, it’s okay to like her. Perfect doesn’t actually exist, but you’re pretty close yourself. Listen Amy, I’ve told you this in the past, if we weren’t both gay, there would be no way in hell I wouldn’t be in love with you. Hell! I’m in platonic love with you. You’re amazing, and once you realize that, I’m pretty sure she’ll see it too.” He said. 

Amy resisted the urge to scoff at that. In no way did she think she was amazing. She had the basic brunette to blonde bleached hair and plain brown eyes. At least Mark’s looked like melted chocolate while her own were flat and dull. Her pale skin made her look pasty while Signe seemed glowy and angelic. 

Almost as though he could sense her thoughts, Mark put a hand on the back of her neck, shushing her thoughts almost instantly. 

“Stop doing that. Shut up, okay? You’re amazing. AMAZING. With a fucking capital A and capital everything. Honestly, I don’t know how I’d survive without you, and the world would be pretty damn lacking if you weren’t here. I can sing your praises till the day I die and I still wouldn’t be able to say everything I possibly can, so don’t doubt yourself, okay? Anyway, tell me about this crush of yours. How it started.” Mark told her, steering the conversation away from her self deprecating thoughts. 

Amy sighed but did as she was told, almost regretting when Mark pulled his hand away. “Okay, captain.” She said, trying to keep the tone light. “I guess it started around the end of junior year? I saw her walking down the hall and honestly, she was absolute perfection.” 

It was true. That day had been a near magical one. Amy remembered walking through the hall to get to her locker until she spotted the long haired girl across the way. She’d been starstruck. Signe Hansen was a thing of beauty, standing petite and pretty with her wavy hair and charming smile. 

She’d heard about the Danish underclassman before, but seeing her up and close was something entirely different. Amy told Mark the details, about how she’d stared in stunned silence until the other girl disappeared into her classroom, and how she’d tried her best to find out the smallest details without coming out as a total stalker. 

When she was done, they’d finally made it to the park and Mark was staring at her in stunned silence. She couldn’t really blame him. Afterall, it was a pretty big thing to keep a secret in such an open relationship that the two of them shared. 

Instead of pointing that out, however, Mark just smiled. “I’m glad you told me. Honestly, I’m just happy to hear about how much you like her. Makes me feel a bit more sane about the way I feel about Jack, if I’m being honest.” He confessed. 

Amy grinned. She was happy too. To be honest, Amy had pretty negative dealings with her sexuality from the start, going as far as to doubt she was gay in the first place. The first time she’d noticed herself staring at girls more than guys, she’d been so scared that she tried to force herself to stop. 

With her old friends, Amy had tried talking about guys, but there was only so much superficial nonsense she could come up with before she started to realize how misguided her feeling were. Coming to terms with the fact that she was gay and in no way straight...had been  _ tough _ . 

Her family wasn’t necessarily homophobic, but she knew they’d be displeased over the idea of their daughter being gay, even if they didn’t outwardly berate or shun her. It would be the minor ways in which they’d stop hugging her or smiling at her that would hurt more, and thus she just kept it a secret. 

Amy remembered the first time she’d talked to Mark about it, finding a friend in a similar situation. However, he’d been the only to eventually come clean to his family. Mark had told her about how his mother had initially been hesitant to accept it. They weren’t a heavily religious family, but Mark had told Amy about how she’d acted detached for a while before finally coming to turns with his sexuality. 

Apparently, Thomas had been distant in the beginning before he finally realized he was being stupid and gave his brother full support. 

When Amy had become friends with Mark, she realized that she could look at the Fischbachs as a surrogate family until she was finally ready to tell her own, and that was good enough. 

“Mark...tell me about your first relationship.” She said once they sat down. 

They'd been very close friends for a while, but this is one of the things they'd never quite spoken about. Not because they were ashamed or didn't want to, but moreso because the topic never really came up.

Mark had taken the leash off of Lucy and she was now running amongst the other dogs in the park. Despite the somewhat early hour, there were others there and the pup would be sure to be entertained. 

“First relationship? Well, it was okay? Didn’t last very long, and I don’t know if I’d actually call it a ‘relationship’ seeing as how it lasted maybe less than a week. It was in freshman year, when I still wasn’t sure and I was trying to force myself to like girls. He was nice, cute, and I ended up deciding to try it out. Turned out, he was kind of an asshole, and I’m pretty sure all he wanted was sex.” He confessed. Mark looked at her. “What about you?” 

This was another story she’d never told Mark, but now that they were deep into the sharing, she told him. 

“She was a nice girl, pretty brown hair and nice green eyes. We dated for almost a month before she turned out to be very straight, claiming what we had was her just ‘trying it out’. Honestly, I was so hurt I almost never thought I’d be capable of going down that hole again, but then I saw Signe and well… I just really hope she’s not the same way.” She finished. 

Mark nodded in understanding and was left in shock when Amy leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. As she pulled back, she smiled. 

“Thank you Mark, for being here for me.” She said softly, and he smiled. 

“I got your back. Anytime, any day.” He said. 

When they started their walk back to Mark’s house, Amy felt significantly lighter. Her anxiety driven thoughts had been hushed, and now all she wanted to do was just spend some quality time with her best friend, skipping over the heavy topics and just talk about stupid stuff. 

Once they got back, Mark proposed baking some cookies and they set out to do just that, goofing off in the kitchen as Thomas watched, more awake this time, as they threw flour at each other and dropped chocolate chips across the counter. 

Mark almost had a heartattack when Lucy lunged for them but Amy was quick enough to catch her by her collar before she could even get close.  

Amy spent the day there before inevitably falling asleep with her head in Mark’s lap as the credits of a movie long forgotten played quietly in the background.

* * *

Signe woke up the same way she usually did: still tired out of her mind and unwilling to roll out of bed. Her alarm blared aggressively from her phone underneath her pillow and no matter what, she couldn’t just ignore it and fall back asleep. 

With a heavy sigh, she turned over and grabbed it, hitting the  _ stop _ button before letting her head fall back onto her pillow. The temptation to just close her eyes again was heavy, but she resisted the urge. She had stuff to do and sleeping wouldn’t help. 

She sat up slowly, blinking sleepily at the sheets that had rolled down to her torso. Despite the warm weather lately, Signe had still been feeling cold. Jack liked to laugh at her messed up internal temperature but there was literally nothing she could do about it.

“It’s literally like...24 degrees and sunny. How are you wearing a sweater without burning?” He’d asked once. Signe had shrugged. 

“I don’t know. Ask my damn genetics…” She’d responded. It was a thing in Signe’s family for them to all be almost constantly cold regardless of the weather.

With another sigh, Signe finally got up and grabbed some clothing from the drawer closest to her bed. It held her casual wear and she pulled out a black long sleeve shirt and black leggings. She was a fan of bright color, no doubt, but regardless, much of her wardrobe consisted of darker shades.

She brushed her teeth and pulled a comb through her short hair before throwing it into two twin buns. Ever since her haircut, it was the best she could do to recreate her usual casual hairstyle. 

With that done, she was fully awake. Signe grabbed a water bottle she kept by her window sill and carefully poured the bottle over the pots for her succulents. 

“Drink up.” She hummed to herself. Signe remembered the first time her sister had caught her talking to her plants and how she’d been teased for weeks. 

Signe’s sister was an annoyance that could never be gotten rid of, no matter how hard she tried. By now, she was used to the teasing and random taunts, but there were still days her sister would pass by a tree and ask Signe what it was saying. 

“Is it telling you all it’s deepest darkest secrets?” She’d asked and Signe had to resist the urge to hit her. 

As she finished the last of her plants, she heard her phone go off. Even without looking at the screen, she could tell who it was. Only Jack would be brave enough to call at this hour. The one time Robin had done it, he’d gotten an earful and promised to never do it again. 

Jack….was a lot less cautious. 

Signe grabbed her phone, halfway tempted to leave it ringing, but before she had a chance to answer, it stopped anyway. She didn’t have much time to ponder before it started ringing again, still Jack. 

“Hello Sean. To what do I owe this rather early phone call?” She asked, voice fakingly sweet. She knew Jack was aware she was kidding, but still, it was fun to play. 

“I….I think I just came to a realization.” Jack spoke after an extended silence. His tone had Signe worried and she dropped her act, capping the bottled water and setting it down before she took a seat the edge of her unmade bed. 

“What kind of realization?” She questioned. Some part of her knew this had to have something to do with Mark, but regardless, she waited for him to say it rather than to ask. 

Jack was quiet again for a few moments but then he spoke. “I think I found out why Mark hates me… Er, well, not  _ hate  _ me, but why he acts so strangely when I’m around.” 

Signe was instantly intrigued and sat up straight. From the small amount that Jack had come clean about his crush on Mark, she’d noticed the way the other man always acted on guard or reserved when it came to Jack. She’d chalked it up to that just being the way he was with people he wasn’t really friends with. 

“Remember last year when I had physics, aka the worst class to ever exist? Well, Mark was also in that class, and he was my lab partner for the year. During our first lab, something went wrong and some of the equipment caught on fire. His ability had gotten a bit out of hand, but instead of letting him get in trouble, I took the blame. 

“I thought the incident had been my fault and I requested a partner change so he’d be more comfortable. In the end...I think he thinks I hate him. I never thought about the way he’d see my change request. Signe, the guy I’m basically in love with thinks I hate him and it’s all my fault. That’s why he’s so weird around me. That’s why he was so surprised when I smiled at him in class!”

Signe was momentarily stunned into a state of silence before she frowned. “Sean, what the hell? Jeez, if you’d told me all this earlier when it actually happened then the misunderstanding wouldn’t have lasted this long!” She said berating him. 

She took in a deep breath and let it back out before continuing. “Poor Mark, it’s no wonder he’s so skittish near you… When we were at the coffee shop yesterday, he looked like he was on the verge from jumping out of his seat and running away. A- Amy kept him in his seat, though.” Signe almost choked when she said that last part but hid it. 

A sound of agreement came through the phone. “Yeah, she had her hand on his back and he seemed to calm down instantly. His entire body had started heating up but as soon as she touched him…” Jack trailed off and Signe was grateful. She didn’t really want to hear about how close Mark and Amy were, especially with the heavy duty crush she had on the faux blonde girl. 

“You don’t think they’re dating, do you…” Signe surprised herself by asking. Just seconds ago, she’d wanted to move on from this topic, and yet here she was, digging even deeper. Jack made an alarmed sound on the other side of the phone and she felt herself flinch. 

_ Stupid stupid stupid question _ . She told herself. 

“I’m not… I mean, I don’t think so.” He answered. “Signe...do you like Amy?” He asked. 

Signe almost dropped her phone at the question but managed to not let it slip out of her grip. She had  _ not  _ been expecting that question and tried to think back to a time where Jack could have ever came to that conclusion, current strange behavior aside. 

“Wha- Why would you think that?” She asked, not even sure why she was so scared to tell the truth. Jack had been her best friend since literal childhood and for some reason, the words just wouldn’t come out of her mouth. She felt almost panicky. 

“I mean, I saw the way you were looking at her when we were at the coffee shop. And just now… I can tell jealousy when I hear it and I’m damn sure it’s not Mark you’re after. You’ve been gay since you knew what the term meant.”  Jack explained. 

She wanted to deny his words but knew there was no use. After all, he was right.

“I....Yeah.” Signe confessed. She waited with baited breath though she had no idea why. Jack was her longest and closest friend and there was no reason to fear his reaction to her liking another girl. Regardless, the uncertainty was there. 

A sound of excitement came through the phone confusing Signe before Jack spoke again. “Really? I was just taking a guess from what I’ve seen of you lately but...that’s awesome!” He said happily. 

Signe felt a smile tug at her lips, relief spreading through her system. Finally, she’d told Jack. There was nothing to hide anymore. 

“Regardless, there’s nothing I plan on doing about it. After what happened yesterday, if they are dating, I have no chance.” She said. A flare of jealousy hit her and she pushed it back violently. 

Jack was silent on the other side of the line for a moment before he finally spoke. 

“How about this? I have to find a way to get Mark to forgive me for what happened last year and in order to do that, I have to try and befriend him. While I’m doing that, maybe you can do the same for Amy. And if they are dating, we’ll find out. If not, then maybe we have a chance.” He explained. 

Signe thought the plan over in her head. There were so many ways that it was terrible such as the fact that Amy might not even be into girls, and even if she was, in what world would she be interested in some random Danish underclassman. Regardless, she wanted to give it a chance. If not for herself, than at least for Jack. 

“Okay Sean, let’s do it.” She agreed finally. With that done, the two said their goodbyes with renewed enthusiasm. 

Signe was...excited. The first time she’d realized she had a crush on the faux blonde had been an unforgettable experience. Amy had a presence she didn’t seem to be aware of when she walked through the halls of the high school. 

Blonde hair and warm eyes, she was pretty and badass at the same time. There was no doubt in Signe’s mind that Amy knew how to get what she wanted. She had an unwavering confidence about her that made her capable of strutting about without having to worry about anything going wrong. 

When her feelings had first made themselves known, Signe had assumed her crush had simply been her looking up to the other girl for these particular characteristics, but she had been incredibly wrong. 

Most people didn’t get a bubbly, happy feeling when the person they admired was around. It was more so just a sense of awe, though she couldn’t say she didn’t feel that either. 

Signe let out a long sigh and let her head fall back onto her pillows, feeling suddenly tired again. She hadn’t done much, but the excitement of her phone call with Jack had taken a surprisingly large amount out of her. 

This was her first legitimate crush. Signe was no stranger to liking people in the past, but this...this was different. She actually  _ really _ liked Amy, more than she thought she could ever actually like someone, and while the thought was a bit terrifying, she was happy.

Thinking about it, she realized this was probably how Jack felt about Mark and almost regretted forcing the two to sit next to each other the previous day. If he’d done the same to her, Signe was sure she wouldn’t have been able to keep her cool the same way he had. 

Regardless, it worked out in the long run and there was no harm. Instead, it had probably been what pushed Jack to realize the misunderstanding between himself and Mark. Signe was glad he’d figured that out. 

Even if Mark didn’t turn out to be gay as well, though the chances of that were low due to a small circulation of rumours sometime in the past, at least maybe the two of them had a chance of being friends. 

Signe wished the same for herself. Amy was still an amazing person, whether or not she was into girls. She would never pass up the opportunity to be friends with a person like that. 

Smiling to herself, Signe leaned over the side of her mattress and grabbed her laptop from underneath the bed where she normally stored it. She had work to do and despite her mental exhaustion, she had to get through it. Her happy mood helped, and she clicked away on the keyboard, humming to herself as she worked. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, AN AMY/SIGNE CHAPTER. Surprised ya'll with that, didn't I!! Tbh, this was fun to write due to the fact that I'm so use to writing in Mark/Jack's perspectives that changing it up pushed me a bit out of my comfort zone. 
> 
> Now, while I'm genuinely proud of the Amy section (despite some janky-ness somewhere near the middle), Signe's is genuinely bad because I legitimately had no idea what I was doing. Regardless, I hope you can forgive me and I hope you liked it anyway despite my terrible writing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know it's been over two months and I've been hardcore delaying this chapter, but it's finally here! I'm so sorry it took so long, but honestly, I'm happy that I finally got it done. I've been procrastinating but I managed to push through and hey! I made this chapter longer than usual to try and compensate! I hope that helps a little, and I apologise again for the delay.

Mark wasn’t exactly sure what happened when he walked into school monday morning. Walking through the halls to get to his locker, he couldn’t help but notice the whispering that went on behind his back, only to get cut off if he ever got too close.When he got to his locker, there were what appeared to be two sophomore boys who hadn’t noticed his presence whispering to each other.

“But I mean, isn’t he gay?” The blonde one asked. Mark quirked an eyebrow at that but said nothing, instead choosing to listen for a bit longer. He made sure not to make too much noise as he switched out books.

“Well yeah, or at least, I think so. But I swear, someone saw the two of them at a park being all lovey dovey.” The brunette said, the thick sound of disgust quite easily noticeable in his voice. Mark was officially suspicious. _Could they be talking about...me?_

He pushed the thought out of his mind and shook his head. There was no way, and he was probably just imaging things. Mark wasn’t even well known enough for gossip of him to spread through the school, he was just another senior at this school.

Regardless, the details were a bit _too_ familiar. Mark was...half out technically. While his sexuality wasn’t really a thing he’d announced in any sort of way, he didn’t hide it either. The fact that he’d dated guys in the past was common knowledge.

“Maybe he’s...what’s that other word? Bi? Yeah, that! ‘Cause I mean, the blonde is cute, who wouldn’t go straight for her?” While closing his locker, Mark paused. That…

Unfortunately, the brunette finally caught onto his  presence and dragged his blonde friend away, the two having twin looks of surprise and fear. Mark watched, confused as well. Whatever was going on, it certainly did have something to do with him and Amy. With a sigh, he locked his locker and headed towards his first class. Bob and Wade were most likely waiting for him.

\- ~ - 

Morning classes were...tough. The talking had continued, and yet again, Mark was struck with the confusion as to why he would ever be the talk of the school. It was a simple walk to a goddamn dog park anyway. Nothing big had happened.

His mood had steadily decline throughout the day and by the time he’d gotten to Calc, he was tired of the nonsense. Thankfully, the teacher was absent and they were given a packet to complete during classtime. Of course no one actually did it, and seat were rearranged in order to allow friends to sit next to each other and chit chat.

Mark let out a happy sigh of relief as he realized he would finally be able to talk to his friends.

They had all shared first period together, but were unfortunately scattered around the room, making it difficult to actually talk. When he spotted Bob in the back of the room, Mark walked straight passed his usual seat and headed towards the other boy, throwing himself into the chair next to him.

“You good, friend-o?” Bob asked, sliding his chair backwards slightly so that he could face Mark. He looked slightly concerned and Mark looked at him.

“Define ‘good’.” He said before settling in properly into his seat. Wade walked into the classroom and headed towards the two of them. “So, what’s with all this whispering I hear about you and Amy?” Was the first thing he asked. Mark resisted the urge to growl and instead rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know. I overheard someone mention that they saw me and her at the park over the weekend, and apparently people think we’re dating now?” He said with a sigh. “And I don’t even care about that. I just want to know why it’s suddenly such a hot topic. I’m not that popular. I’m not popular at all.”

Bob and Wade traded looks and Mark was much too annoyed to try and decipher what they might have meant. “You do know that like...half the girls in this grade are in love with you, right?” Wade asked after a moment of silence. Mark looked at him in confusion.

“What do you mean? Even if I haven’t said it out loud, most people know I’m gay.” He said. The look on Bob’s face made it obvious that he thought Mark was an idiot.

“Mark, they don’t care. And now that it looks like you and Amy are dating, because the two of you are always so handsy with each other, people are most likely talking ‘cause they’re jealous.” He explained.

Mark thought over for a second. There was no way it could be true. Him? Being liked by girls? The idea of it seemed way too farfetched, but the longer he mulled over it, the more it began to seem like a plausible option.

He dropped his head onto the desk and let out a long groan, nearly attracting the attention of the teacher watching over the class. Other students watched him in vague interest before turning back to whatever it was they’d been talking about.

When Mark raised his head again, he sighed. “Well fuck, what do I do now?” He asked. Bob shrugged.

“I wonder what Jack would do if he heard these rumours.” He said. At that, Mark groaned even louder, prompting an eyebrow raise from the sub.

“Fuck, don't even mention that. I don't want to think about his reaction. If there's even the slightest chance that he's gay and doesn't hate me, then these rumors will end any chance I have.” He grumbled. Wade and Bob shrugged, not really knowing what to say. The situation sucked, but there was nothing much they could do about it.

Trying to dispel the rumors, there would a chance of making it even worse. And the effect it would have on Amy…

Mark perked up instantly. “Amy! Shit! If what you said was right and people are getting jealous, who knows what she's going through. Crap, I gotta find her!” He stood up from his seat and nearly ran to the door, bookbag still at the desk, but stopped when someone cleared their throat.

“Excuse me, young man. Where do you think you're going?” The substitute teacher asked. Mark opened his mouth awkwardly, letting it hand for a second as he tried to come up with an excuse.

“I, umm, gotta go use the bathroom?” He said. The teacher shook their head and pointed back towards Mark’s seat.

“Uh huh, sure. Sit down and wait till the bell rings.” Mark sighed and walked back to his seat. He'd have to find Amy later and hopefully clear this all up. The idea of her being harassed because of him...it made him feel terrible. He just hoped she was okay.

Bob and Wade could tell from the look on his face and tried their best to cheer to him. “I'm sure she's okay. Amy’s tough, she can take it.” Bob said. Mark could only limply nod his head. He was right, she was tough. It didn't mean she was untouchable though.

The period went by slowly and when the bell finally rang, Mark was out of his seat in second, without saying a goodbye to his friends. They just both waved awkwardly into the air and sighed.

\- ~ -

Finding Amy in the halls took way longer than Mark was okay with. He'd sent her multiple texts asking where she was, but every one of them went unread. The anxiety in his chest built up the longer it took and when he finally spotted her, the air was nearly sucked out of his body.

Two girls stood on either side of her, evil smirks on their faces as the redhead held what looked like Amy’s phone in her grasp. They were talking, but from Mark’s distance, he couldn't really hear anything. As he got closer, he couldn't believe his ears.

“Oh look, he's fucking texting you now. What? Gonna go to class together and cuddle up? Fucking show off that you got him when no one else could?” The girl with black hair leaned in closer to Amy who Mark could finally see was crying. Amy tried to speak but didn't have a chance.

Without thought, Mark felt his body move and he grabbed the phone of the redhead’s hand. His voice dropped and he glared at them darkly.

“Fuckin’ leave.” He said, his voice a low and threatening growl. Both their eyes opened comically wide before they sputtered and nearly ran away, zooming down the hall like the devil was on their tail.

When he looked back at Amy, his eyes had softened and he wiped the tears gently from her cheeks. Never had he been more grateful that they shared a free period together.

“Come on, let’s go sit in an empty classroom.” He said, taking her hand in his and pulling her through the hall. Amy blinked at him slowly before nodding, rubbing her eyes roughly as she let herself be led through the halls.

It took a bit to find one where they wouldn't be disturbed. Most times, students weren't allowed in classrooms unsupervised, but finding one away from heavy hallway traffic made it easy to hide away without getting caught. Mark walked in and led Amy straight to the back, making her take a seat. She still hadn't said anything and he was worried. With a sigh, he closed the door and then sat down beside her.

“Wanna tell me what happened?” He asked gently. Amy shook her head and looked down. From the look on her face, Mark could tell she was feeling ashamed. The anger from before began to bubble up again but he pushed it down. Now was not the time for that. He had to focus on her.

“Hey, look at me.” He said and used his fingers to gently tilt her head up to look back at him. “Whatever happened, it's not your fault, okay?” Amy peered at him for a few seconds in silence before cracking a tiny smile.

“Thanks Mark. I just…how did this happen? You...you must've heard the rumors, right?” She asked. Mark nodded and frowned slightly at the mention of them. If he could, he'd track down who had spread them and beat the shit out of them. But that was virtually impossible. Big rumors were hard to trace back.

Amy sighed. “They caught me while I was walking to my locker. Grabbed my phone when they saw your name and st–” She was cut off by the sound of the classroom door opening and someone running in.

Mark quickly turned to see who it was and almost choked when he realized it was, of all people, Jack.

* * *

Jack wasn’t exactly sure what to make about the rumours he heard going through the hallways when he got to school. A big part of him was heavily defeated, thinking that even after his plans to try and get closer to Mark, something like this had to happen and ruin it. But also, the other part of it wanted to chalk it all up to stupid high schoolers trying to make drama.

He didn’t want to believe that Mark and Amy were dating. Not because he didn’t want them to be happy, but because...well. A crush as big as his was a hard one to get over.

In the end, he pushed it to the back of his mind, trying not to dwell too heavily on the idea while attending his morning classes. Robin had the same gym period as him and the two frequently would just either idly pass a ball between each and talk or hide out in the corner avoiding the others.

With a sigh, Jack changed into a pair of shorts pushed his hair back. It was getting a bit too long and the colour was also starting to fade heavily, leaving it a weird yellowy-green, almost like dead grass. At least, that’s what Signe had said when she saw it earlier, a look of distaste on her pretty face.

He didn’t mind the colour all that much but decided it would be best to knock out two things with one stone during his trip to the hairdresser. Jack stood up to stretch and watched as Robin walked through the locker room doors and head towards him, a worried look on his face.

Despite wanting to move on from that topic, he knew what Robin was worried about. He was bound to mention the whole Mark and Amy thing and, if Jack was being honest with himself, maybe talking to Robin would help.

Signe was the friend that Jack could tell anything to. She was the one who knew he’d held onto his oral fixation from his childhood to this day and he could count on her to not judge him. Robin, on the other hand, was the one full of advice to help push Jack to do things he otherwise wouldn’t. Together, they were the greatest support team he could ever have.

Robin approached and opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Jack cut him off.

“Yes, I’ve heard the rumours. No, I don’t know if they’re true.” He said. Robin stopped and closed his mouth, dropping his bag onto the ground. He gave Jack a look before rolling his eyes and walking over to the locker next to Jack’s that still happened to be empty.

“Rude…” He mumbled as he threw his stuff in. He was already dressed in adequate gym clothes and didn’t need to change. With his things put away and locked in the locker, Robin looked back at Jack, the worry shifting into concern. “Are you okay?” He asked.

Jack wasn’t sure what Robin meant about the question until he felt the tensing in his chest from earlier once again. He...wasn’t sure. “I don’t know.” He confessed. There was nothing to be ‘not okay’ about. If Mark was dating Amy, then Mark was dating Amy. But...the crushing feeling of not even being able to explain that he’d never hated him...it was terrible.

Robin caught the look on his face and placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it, Jackie. Come on, let’s go upstairs and we can talk.”

Letting himself be led up the stairs that connected the locker rooms to the actual gym, Jack couldn’t help but smile slightly at Robin. They sat down for attendance, unfortunately distanced due to the alphabetical seating, but were quick to rejoin once that was over.

Robin found their usual place away from everyone else and sat down first, patting the ground next to him to motion Jack to sit down next. He did and slid down the wall, letting out a sigh when his ass hit the floor.

“So...tell me what you’re feeling.” Robin said after a few moments of silence. Jack turned to face him and didn’t say anything for a few second. Finally, he sighed and shook his head.

“I don’t know, really. I mean, rumours are rumours, right? Maybe it’s not true, but even if it is, I shouldn’t be this upset, yunno?” He asked. Robin shook his head gently.

“You have a right to your feelings, Jack. They’re valid, you deserve to feel things. And I mean, you’re upset because a guy you’ve liked for so long may not be into you and is possibly dating someone else. That’s a pretty okay thing to get upset about.” He said. Jack tried to shake his head but Robin gave him a stern look and he stopped. “But I don’t think it’s true. I mean, I know Amy and Mark are super close, it’s obvious. They’re all touchy feely, which I’d think was a bit odd, but you and Signe are almost the same way, just to a lesser extent and I-”

This time, Jack was the one to shut Robin up with a look. He stopped and smiled sheepishly before looking serious again. “What I meant to say was...they’re close. But they’re not dating close. It certainly doesn’t look that way to me, at least.”

Jack thought about his words. They made sense, but then again, Jack had never been in a relationship, so he didn’t know what two people dating really looked like. Well, not beyond Robin and his girlfriend, but he never truly saw much of her.

He sighed again, for probably the hundredth time this morning and looked back up at Robin, smiling slightly. “Thanks man.” He said. Robin just smiled back and nodded.

“No problem, Jackie. ”They sat there, moving on to talk about other things. Robin told Jack about how things were going with Kia. They were only interrupted about fifteen minutes before the period ended when a girl Jack had seen before started walking towards them with two other people beside her. The group didn’t notice the two of them on the floor, but they were close enough for Jack to hear their conversation.

“God, she’s such a bitch.” The one Jack recognized said, flipped her brunette hair off of her shoulder. Jack tried to remember where he’d seen her before and recalled a memory of her and Amy laughing and talking while going through the hall near his locker. His eyes widened and he hushed Robin when he tried to ask what was going on.

“Oh shut up, Jess. You’re the one that’s friends with her.” The girl standing next to her said. Jack narrowed his eyes. There was only one possible person they could be talking about, but regardless, Jack was praying that he was wrong.

‘Jess’ rolled her eyes and huffed. “I was only friends with her to get close to Mark, obviously. But that didn’t fucking work out and now she’s with him? Ugh, makes me wanna rip my hair out.” She grumbled. “I mean, almost every girl in this school wants to get with him, but she’s the one he chooses? She’s not even that pretty! Fake blondes are so gross.”

The group walked passed them leaving Jack in a state of shock. When he turned to look at Robin, he had the same expression on his face.

“Jeez, there are really people like that in that world? I was so sure that was a made up trope, but damn, she’s a real life mean girl.” Robin said. Jack nodded. All of his previous frustrations about the rumours melted away as he realized that this was not about him. Whether or not the news was true, Amy and Mark had probably been getting harassed all day and were being forced to deal with all this nonsense.

Jack let himself lean heavily against the wall behind his back, dropping his head and barely flinching when it hit solidly. And it wasn’t only that… Something else she’d said was weighing on his mind as well.

Mark was well known, even before all this happened. He was smart, athletic, and during his band years, quite musical as well. Regardless, he was pretty popular, even if he seemed to deny that status, obvious from the way that he never noticed the looks he got from other people. Jack being Jack, which his huge crush, had obviously taken note of the attention Mark got from others.

Jack knew all this, but Jess had said that Mark...was wanted by almost all the girls in the school? It made him feel uncomfortable, thinking that it was yet another reason Mark would never choose him. Even if Mark was gay, there was a chance that if a lot of girls liked him, that Jack wasn’t the only guy to also happen to be harboring a crush.

The thought weighed down on his heavily but he lifted his head and shook the thoughts out of his mind. This wasn’t a good thing to be fixated on, not now. Not ever. Not when he’d have to see him during his afternoon classes.

“Jack…” Robin’s voice broke through his thoughts and he looked up. “Jack, I know what you’re thinking, and stop right now. Whatever’s happened, your emotions are so strong, I swear the air feels like it’s being sucked out of the room and everything sounds super foggy and distant.” He warned.

Realizing what was happening, Jack forced his ability back under his control. He hadn’t even noticed that he was distorting the sound waves around the two of them. “S-sorry, Robin.” He said shortly. Robin gave him a gentle look and moved a bit closer so that they could sit facing each other rather than next to each other.

“Don’t apologize, it happens sometimes. Honestly, I was half tempted to make her hair go into her mouth and choke her.” He said jokingly. Jack let out a short laugh, though it wasn’t filled with his usual amusement.

They stood as the bell rung and made their way with the rest of the guys to the locker room. Robin made sure to reassure Jack that everything would be okay and to not stress himself out.

When he left, Jack made the decision to skip his english class. He wasn’t in the mood to listen to anyone else talk about Amy and Mark and he made his way through the halls to get to his locker. It would be easy to switch out his books now rather than later.

As he got to his locker, the halls had cleared out for the most part, other than a few stragglers. He was left alone by the teachers peeking their heads out of their classrooms to make sure the halls were clear but as soon as he closed his lock, he was quick to find an empty hall to keep to his thoughts.

It lasted all of five minutes before he heard the telltale sound of heels clicking down the hall. Not wanting to be caught, Jack dashed passed a set of lockers and turned a sharp left before running in the first room he saw. Pushing the door open, he almost instantly regretted his decision.

Mark was staring right at him, and Amy was sitting right there.

* * *

They stared at each other awkwardly, the tension between them almost palpable. Jack could feel his heart almost stop in his chest, the erratic beating from almost being caught in the hall stuttering so suddenly, it felt like a sharp pain. Mark was entirely caught off guard, having never expected Jack to suddenly come barreling into the room as if he were being chased.

Jack said nothing, instead taking in the situation. Amy sat in equally stunned silence, and Jack had to force himself not to flinch when he saw how close she and Mark were sitting next to each other. The desks had been pulled close together and Mark was still halfway leaned across his own to reach Amy’s.

Mark realized what Jack was seeing and pulled away sharply, though not all the way back. He wasn’t ashamed of his closeness with Amy, but after everything that had happened already, he didn’t want to further the rumours Jack had most likely heard. He watched as Jack seemed to retract himself and turn on his heel to leave.

Before realizing what he was doing, Mark called out. “Ah, wait a minute!” He felt himself get up from his seat and walk across the classroom to grab onto Jack’s sleeve.

Jack turned to look at Mark, but he was already leaning past him to lock the door and then drag him to the back where Amy still was. It was only then that he noticed the teary wet mess across her face. Whatever he’d walked in on, it was personal, and he wasn’t sure he should’ve been there.

Mark motioned for Jack to sit down and when he did, it finally hit him as to what he’d just done. The three of them now sat in the classroom awkwardly, not sure what to say.

Forcing himself to speak, Mark broke the silence. “S-sorry for dragging you in here. I just...didn’t want us to get caught.” He explained. Jack nodded his head slowly, but he still wasn’t entirely sure his presence was acceptable.

Amy had obviously been crying and Mark had been comforting her. The painful squeezing in his chest made an unwanted reappearance and Jack forced himself to smile. “No, it’s not a problem. I should probably leave, though. You two...looked busy.” He said.

Jack stood but was pulled by the sleeve again by Mark, forcing himself to stay seated. If Jack hadn’t already known Mark was a pyro, he would have assumed his ability was augmented strength or something. His grip was unyielding and his pull gave no room for resistance.

“We weren’t really busy. I mean, we were, but not with what you think, I swear.” Mark could feel himself sort of panicking and his body gradually heating up. Quickly, he put a stop to the latter. “Ah, Amy was just...well, I’m sure you’ve...you’ve heard the rumours. And some girls were harassing Amy, and I wanted to take her somewhere private, and I-” Amy reached across the table and slapped a hand over his mouth, leaving Mark to let out a mental sigh of relief.

He’d been digging himself into a hole and was thankful Amy were there to stop his rambling.

Jack watched the two with a quirked eyebrow before glancing at Amy who’d pulled back and was wiping her face clear of any left over tears. Her makeup had run slightly, but it was nothing too noticeable, just some smudged eyeliner.

“What Mark was trying to say was that he was defending me from a couple of girls who thought the rumours were true.” She said. “They seemed to believe we were dating, but he’s just my best friend. Mark is, after all…” She stopped there and gave Mark a look, one Jack couldn’t read.

Mark tensed slightly when he realized what Amy was doing. This was his chance...his chance not to necessarily explain his feelings, but to test the waters. If Jack reacted adversely to him being gay, then he’d know for sure there was no chance, but if he didn’t…

Well, it didn’t automatically mean that things would be okay. There was the chance of him being straight and okay with someone being gay. Regardless, this was a chance and he wasn’t going to lose it.

“I’m gay.” He said, feeling his heart pound heavily in his chest. He glanced up at Jack, not having realized he’d looked down in the first place. What he saw had him calming down slightly. Jack didn’t look disgusted, or even just accepting. He looked... _relieved._ It was the last thing Mark had expected.

Jack was...in a state of shock. He’d always wondered how he’d react if Mark turned out to also be gay, but while it sucked that he was finding out this way, after all the stupid rumours going about and Amy getting harassed, he couldn’t help the relief that seemed to flood his body. All his worries about everything…

Some were still there, of course. Jack knew there was still the whole physics class misunderstanding to be cleared up, but the chance of Mark maybe liking him back, it was an actual plausible possibility, and not some far off dream like he’d forced himself to think it was.

Mark forced himself to keep talking, to move on past this subject. Despite the heavy thumping of his heart, he continued. “I’m not sure how the rumours even started to begin with, nor why they’re so popular, but it’s got to stop. I can’t have people bullying Amy in the hall. All because they think she’s dating me.” He said.

The anger from before began to rise again, and this time he wasn’t careful to keep his ability under control, scorching the desk that he’d been gripping onto. He only stopped when he felt someone grab his hand and pull it away from the wooden desk.

When he noticed it was Jack, Mark blushed and pulled away slightly, though not enough to seem rude.

Jack blushed as well and shifted in his seat before turning to Amy, a soft look on his face. “I...can’t imagine what this is like. It must suck, and people are pretty shitty. Uh… I happened to overhear a girl, her name is...Jess?” Amy raised an eyebrow at that but nodded for Jack to continue. He sighed.

“She...was talking to a few people about how she was only friends with you to get close to Mark.” Confessing that seemed to make the entire situation finally sink in for Jack. “And to think that people like that really exist.”

Amy looked heartbroken but she said nothing for a few moments. Once again, the classroom was left in a sort of tense silence, before she spoke.

“Well, that’s great. If I can think of at least one good thing that’s come of this situation, I at least know who my true friends are. First Charlotte, and now Jess.” Jack wasn’t sure what to say and turned to Mark, only to see that he was nearly fuming. His hands were thankfully no longer gripping the desk, but his hands were curled into fists tight enough that his knuckles were white and his nails were most likely cutting into his palms.

Jack didn’t want this to go on for much longer and the only thing he could think to do was try and dispel the tense air.

“You’re right. Sometimes, bad things happen, and it’s truly fuckin awful how people end up treating you. But in the end, it helps you see who’s really there to support you, and who’s going to end up never looking in your direction again. I, uh. Before I moved here, back when I was still in Ireland, I came out to some of my friends.

“They...weren’t so keen on the fact that I was into guys and all kinda turned on me. Signe had always been super supportive and I thought the others would be that way too. It sucked, but I’m happy to say that everything worked out in the end. I have Signe and Robin, and I’m pretty happy. You have Mark who seems like he’ll always be there to defend you.”

He hadn’t expected himself to ramble, nor even come out himself, but it seemed like the only right thing to say in the situation, and from the soft smile on Amy’s face, it had been worth it. Before he realized what was going on, the faux blonde was up and out of her seat, reaching over to hug him.

“Thanks, Jack. I appreciate it.” She said and pulled back, her smile wide and happy.

Mark watched in a sort of stunned silence. He was more than pleased that Amy was feeling better now, but also...Jack had said that he was ‘into guys’. Which meant that he was gay (or bi). Which meant that there was a chance…?

He stopped himself there. It didn’t matter. Jack was being suspiciously nice, but Mark still couldn’t get the idea that Jack didn’t like him out of his mind. The most they could be possibly was friends, and he was ready to accept that.

With an internal sigh, he calmed himself down and smiled at Amy. “He’s right. I’ve always got your back, and Bob and Wade are there too, so there’s no need to worry.” He said. Amy grinned and nudged him with her shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah. Now I just have to get over the embarrassment of Jack seeing me cry.” She joked. Jack laughed. Now that the weird tensions had been cleared up, it was easier to relax.

The three of them spent the rest of the period talking about other things. Jack and Mark continued to glance at each other for a little too long, something Mark knew Amy was noticing and would be sure to tease him about later.

When the bell finally rang, Mark nearly jumped out of his seat. He didn’t want to leave. After all, this was the first time he’d been able to talk to Jack without freaking out unnecessarily. It felt nice to just hang out. Of course, all good things must come to an end.

Jack said goodbye first, not wanting to leave as well, but he’d already cut one class and wasn’t prepared to avoid another. Walking through the crowded halls, he almost couldn’t calm the fluttering in his chest. He had so much to tell Signe.

Mark made sure to walk Amy to her classroom, thankful that it wasn’t far from his. People watched them as they crossed the hall, but he glared at anyone that stared for too long.

* * *

Mark thought he’d be okay when he sat down in his next class. After what had happened during his free period with Amy and Jack, the only two things on his mind were worry for Amy, if she would be okay without him, and the shock of Jack being into guys as well.

No matter how much he told himself there was still little to no chance, the optimistic part of himself couldn’t help but sigh in heavy relief and start thinking about...about confessing. The urge to bang his head on his table repeatedly was strong, but he resisted.

And then the thing with Amy as well… People seemed to had calmed down by now, but he could still feel the heavy stares of others on his back. After what Bob and Wade had told him, Mark was beginning to realize that a lot of those stares happened to be coming from girls. He gritted his teeth, annoyed.

He thought about what Jack had said about that one girl named Jess and clenched his hands only to release them again. The last time he’d done this, he managed to break skin. It had hurt, but thankfully wasn’t enough to make it bleed.

Mark forced himself to breathe carefully and pulled out his phone. For now, his worry outweighed his anger and he was determined to keep an eye on Amy, whether she appreciated it or not. They were friends, best friends, and he refused to let anyone harm her, even if it exacerbated the rumours.

He texted her, not caring if the teacher caught him. It wouldn’t even really be a problem. Mrs Berhow was a lenient person, not caring about texting or music unless it got in the way of testing or silent work. As long as everyone put it away if another teacher walked in, they were free to do as they wanted.

 

> [M]: How’s class going?

It took a few moments before he got a response from her.

> [A]: I’m fine, there’s no need to check.

She said. Mark rolled his eyes. Of course, he knew he was being annoying, but there was still the super protective side of him that he couldn’t really control.

> [M]: There’s always a need a check. I don’t want anyone else messing with you.

Amy’s response was almost immediate, the three dots showing up almost as soon as he sent the message.

> [A]: Mark, I’m fine. The real question is how you’re doing.

He had no idea what she was talking about. Nobody had really bothered him, beyond the staring, that stopped every time he turned to look at the culprit.

> [A]: And I mean about Jack. I saw the way he kept looking at you all through last period. He was beyond jealous when he saw how close we were sitting, but as soon as you said you were gay, he looked //so// relieved.

Mark’s eyes widened at that, and he put his phone down for a second. Jack _had_ looked relieved, which was something that still stumped him. Why? He shook his head. Amy was wrong. Her vision was probably blurry from her tears and she’d misinterpreted what she saw.

> [M]: Ha! As much as I’d love that to be true, I highly doubt it. Maybe he likes you and that’s why he was so relieved. Afterall, he said he was into guys, not that he didn’t like girls. He could be bi.

Even typing that in, Mark couldn’t help the sense of _wrong_. Jack liking Amy…? It didn’t feel like the truth, but regardless, he pressed send.

> [A]: Shut up, he doesn’t like me. He likes //you//, but you’re too dense to see it. Just trust me on this, okay? I’m a girl, I know when love is in the air and all that nonsense.

Mark laughed under his breath.

> [M]: Sure sure, whatever you say, ma’am.
> 
>  

They talked for almost the rest of the period about nothing in particular, trying to make plans for the weekend and about Lucy. Mark and his family had been thinking about getting another dog as a companion for her. Not that Lucy was lonely seeing as how Thomas was home most days, but it would nice for her to have a friend.

Amy was beyond excited about that idea and made Mark promise that if they did decide to adopt another pet, she got to go as well.

The bell rang and Mark put his phone away. He was sure he was going to meet her by her locker later, but for now, he felt a bit better about leaving her alone. She had reassured him that she was tough, which he most definitely already knew, and she could take care of herself. With a sigh, he slipped out of his desk and towards his locker to get his books for his afternoon class.

\- ~ - 

When Mark walked into Mr Kramer’s classroom, he wasn’t surprised to see Jack already sitting in his seat, watching him as he walked over. In an attempt to make things a little less awkward, he smiled slightly and gave a short wave. He was almost surprised when Jack returned the smile.

Mark took his seat and the rest of the class slowly trickled in until the bell rang, signalling the beginning of the period. For some reason, the usual thumping of Mark’s heart that usually accompanied being in such close proximity to Jack wasn’t there.

Well, it was, but to a seemingly lesser extent. Almost like...Mark was getting used to him. The idea was a pleasant one. It made him think that maybe one day he’d be able to act like a normal person in his presence.

Mark was a bit lost in his thoughts until Mr Kramer cleared his throat and directed the attention of the class towards himself.

“So, welcome to the second day of your afternoon courses. Now, on friday, you all got to know each other a little bit, but I never fully introduced myself. Hello, my name is Barry Kramer, a Class B, Level 6 electricity manipulator, as well as your Class B teacher.” He moved towards the front of his desk holding a lightbulb in one of his hands.

Within seconds, the bulb was lit without being attached to any sort of power source. Some of the students let out a small sound of awe, though most were a bit unimpressed. Being able to light a bulb as an electricity manipulator wasn’t really all that much to see, though Mark himself couldn’t deny thinking it was somewhat cool.

He had always had a sort of fascination with abilities that weren’t his own, and though types like Mr Kramer weren’t rare like Jack, they were still less common that water, fire, air, and earth.

“Now, that seemed a little boring, right? Wanna see something a bit cooler?” Mark felt himself nodding along with most of the rest of the class. Mr Kramer grinned.

He put his hands up, as though he were holding an invisible ball between them, fingers parted. A sort of static filled the room for a short moment before thin lines of blue could be seen extending from his fingers. Slowly, Mr Kramer pulled his hands farther from each other and the lines of blue grew longer and thicker.

Finally, they seemed to snap, leaving the blue lines of electricity as whips extending from each finger. Mr Kramer walked over to one side of his desk and snapped his left hand forward, sending the electric whips outwards to hit the other end of the table, leaving dark scorch marks in the wood.

This time, the entire class clapped, entranced by the show that had been put on. Mark watched in wonder.

“Now how was that? See, what I did was concentrate the static in the air in between my fingers to make thin ropes of electricity. I cut it off before they could get too long and I used them almost like whips. I can concentrate them between only two finger if I want to make them stronger and make them longer for better range. It all depends.” Mr Kramer explained.

“Hmm, and now that I’ve fully introduced myself and my ability, I guess we should start moving on with today’s class.” He said once the class started to calm down. He walked back over behind his desk and pointed to the board where he’d already written **Class B - Elemental Abilities - Types and Commonality**.

He began to talk about the specific abilities that fell under the Class B division. Mark couldn’t help but want to shrink into himself when Mr Kramer mentioned pyros as being one of the most common. However, when he moved past it, Mark was fully invested in the discussion.

Some classmates raised their hands to ask questions about certain things, but Mark kept his hand down, content with just listening. It wasn’t until the period was almost over when things struck an awkward phase.

“And now on to some people’s favorite topic, and frankly, probably my least: those with multiple abilities. This doesn’t really fall under our required curriculum, but I know if I don’t mention it at least once, I’ll be bombarded by questions at some point.” Mark felt himself stiffen almost immediately at the mention of multiple abilities. He didn’t want to hear or think about this.

Strangely enough, he could feel the heat of Jack’s stare behind him, but he said nothing.

“Now, those who are classified as having more than one ability are considered a Class E and are incredibly rare. Only one person in current day is known to be a Class E, but even then, their identity is unknown and they are in custody of the ONA. Not much is known about Class E’s other than the fact that their abilities are never part of the same Class, which means that one cannot be both a hydrokinetic and a terrakinetic. It’s why they are under a different Class entirely.” Mr Kramer explained.

Students began to raise their hands to ask questions, but before anyone could be picked, the bell rung, signalling the end of class. Mark let out a deep sigh of relief and grabbed his bag, standing as quickly as he could to try and get out of the classroom. Before he could, he felt someone grabbed his arm. Turning, it was Jack.

“Ah, sorry… I don’t mean to stop you if you’re in a rush, but I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second?” Jack sounded slightly nervous, but Mark couldn’t really hear it over the pounding of his heart that he could hear ever so loudly in his ears.

A strong part of him wanted to say no and bail, run as fast as he could until he got to Amy’s locker and rushed home. The stronger part made him stop and think. He had no idea what this could be about, but he wanted to find out.

Hesitantly, he nodded. “Yeah, sure. Where do you wanna go?”

* * *

Jack immediately pulled out his phone as soon as he sat in his seat, finding his messages to Signe and sending her a text.

 

> [J]: He’s gay. Oh my god, Whoosh. Mark is //fuckin’// gay

The teacher walked in as Jack pressed send and he set up his binder in a way that he hoped hid the fact that he was on his phone. Mr O’Donovan didn't have a very friendly phone policy, not like Mrs Berhow, and Jack was prepared to let his phone get taken away. Not when he had too much to tell Signe.

> [S]: And how exactly do you know this?

She finally sent back after a few moments. Jack grabbed his phone as soon as he saw the screen light up.

> [J]: He fuckin told me. I mean, let me explain. I skipped English because something happened during gym, which I'll tell you about just now, and I ran into an empty classroom and it turned out it wasn't empty because Mark was there. And so was Amy. And she was crying
> 
> [J]: It turns out, she's been getting harassed by other girls due to the rumors ‘cause apparently, Mark is popular with the ladies and they're upset ‘cause they think the two are dating. Anyway, Mark explained that they're not to me and it's...it's because he's //gay//

Jack sent the texts in such quick succession that Signe didn't have a chance to respond in between. He just really needed to tell her about what had happened.

> [S]: Wow… that's great Sean. But...what you said about her getting harassed?

Signe was obviously more concerned about the fact that someone was bothering Amy, but Jack wasn't offended. He'd known what her reaction would be.

> [J]: Yeah. I only got the names of two of them. Jess, and I think...Charlotte?

He wasn't entirely too sure about the second one, but there was no doubt in his mind about the girl during his gym period.

> [J]: I overheard the Jess girl during gym talking about how she was only friends with Amy to get close to Mark. It was fucked.

Signe took a while to respond.

> [S]: I...know Charlotte. I think I'll be having a talk with her. As for Jess? I'm not sure. But if I find out who she is…

The threat in Signe’s text was obvious, and Jack knew what she was insinuating. He didn't even try and talk her out of it.

> [S]: But moving on from that for a bit… If Mark is also into guys, then maybe you have a chance? You just have to clear up the whole physics class thing, of course.

Signe said. Jack sighed and almost jumped when Mr O’Donovan looked his way. Thankfully, he managed to hide his phone before it could be seen.

He knew Signe was right, but that whole thing was easier said than done.

> [J]: I know, but Whoosh...what if it doesn't work out? What if he says no? Or just seems disgusted?

Signe was quick this time. 

> [S]: Well first, he'd be a fucking idiot to turn you down. And second, he won't. I saw the way he looked at you when we were in Cinnamon Sin. He likes you too, you idiot.

 

Jack wanted to respond but the sound of someone clearing their throat brought his attention away from his phone and towards the front of the room. Mr O’Donovan stood there with a raised eyebrow and Jack slowly put his phone back into his pocket, a bit ashamed of having been caught.

Signe would know, hopefully, that he wasn't ignoring her. However, for the rest of the period, he couldn't help but think about what she’d said. Mark liking him back? While it was plausible, Jack didn't want to get his hopes up. Instead, he tried to force himself to listen to the listen, somewhat dreading his afternoon class, but also looking forward to it, just because he'd get to see Mark.

\- ~ - 

Jack managed to reach his afternoon class before Mark and sat down a semi-relieved sigh. Along his walk there, he’d thought about the entire conversation with Signe and how Mark was also gay. There was the whole thing about trying to find a way to clear up the whole physics class misunderstanding, and currently, the only viable option was to stop Mark at some point and just talk to him about it.

He couldn’t help but think that if they did have this conversation, it would end with him confessing to Mark, and Jack wasn’t so sure he was ready for that. He let out another sigh and looked up, only to watch as Mark entered the room and give him a small smile and wave.

Not knowing what else to do, Jack returned the smile. For now, he just had to show Mark that he didn’t hate him through his actions until he found the chance to finally tell him straight up.

Mark sat down and the two didn’t really say anything. Slowly, the rest of the class filled the room and Mr Kramer began the lesson, first by properly introducing himself and his ability. Jack had never met an electricity manipulator and watching the presentation of Mr Kramer’s ability in person was sort of fascinating, as was the lesson as a whole.

Jack knew about the main four Class B abilities, along with his own, but learning about others was more than interesting. The most intriguing had been weather manipulation, which happened to be even rarer than his own ability.

Class went on fairly quickly and Jack felt himself begin to slowly slip into a state of half listening, half lost in his thoughts. It wasn’t until he heard Mr Kramer mention the topic of multiple abilities that he perked up.

Mark had tensed and Jack caught the response, wondering what was wrong, however he said nothing. Jack had always wondered about those with multiple abilities. The ONA claimed for them to be rare, but there was always the chance of a person possibly hiding their second ability. After all, it was a common horror story that the government kidnapped Class E’s and hid them away to be experimented on.

Jack couldn’t help but wonder if anyone he knew was a Class E, but he quickly shook the thoughts from his mind. Even if there happened to be another one in the world other than the person in custody of the ONA, there couldn’t be a chance that there was one currently in the same school as him.

Instead, Jack moved his thoughts back to Mark. During Mr Kramer’s lesson, he had began to think that maybe waiting to talk to Mark wasn’t such a good idea. A year of Mark thinking he hated him had already passed, and Jack didn’t want it to go on for much longer.

He couldn’t decide if he wanted to wait till tomorrow to try and talk to him, or after class, but when the bell rang, Jack felt himself moving. Mark had already gotten about halfway across the classroom, and similar to what had happened earlier when Mark had grabbed him back in the empty classroom, Jack wrapped his hand around Mark’s arm to stop him.

“Ah, sorry… I don’t mean to stop you if you’re in a rush, but I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second?” Even Jack could hear the nervous energy in his own voice, despite all his attempts to keep it even.

Mark looked stunned by his request, and almost like he wanted to run away as fast as he could. Surprising Jack, he nodded, though the action looked a bit hesitant.

“Yeah, sure. Where do you wanna go?” Jack sighed. It was now or never.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I dunno if you realised, but I tried to do a thing where a did a section with both Mark and Jack's perspectives together so that I wouldn't have to repeat dialogue by doing it separately. Hopefully it was fine, but yeah, if it's a bit confusing, I apologise.
> 
> Find me at my Tumblr: https://theworldinallitshonestterrors.tumblr.com


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I'VE BEEN BEATING MYSELF UP FOR THE PAST TWO MONTHS TRYNA BE LIKE 'WRITE, YOU BITCH' BUT IM SO SORRY. I started my first year of college in August and things got //rough// real quick. Either I had no time to write, or I had time, but no motivation or energy. BUT NOW I'M BACK. I got so much shit for this fic planned, it's gonna be epic (or at least, I hope it will), so I hope ya'll continue to tag along with my dumbass for this fic. And hopefully....it doesn't take me another two months to update...haha...yeahh...
> 
> ANYWAY, ENJOY (and sorry, this chapter didn't turn out to be as long as I wanted it to be, but it's something!)

The two of them ended up back in the same classroom as earlier. Mark wasn’t really sure what to expect, but he couldn’t help the nervous bouncing of his leg as he sat as a desk, twisting his body so that his back was against the metal bar connecting the desk to the seat. Jack stood in the front of the room, his face a storm of emotions that Mark couldn’t quite place.

In his head, Mark made the mistake of letting his thoughts wander. He recalled his earlier conversation with Amy, and felt his heart constrict. Had Jack...taken him here to get his approval to ask her out? He wasn’t sure how he would react if that was what this was. Unconsciously, he felt his nails dig into his palms.

Unaware of the turmoil going on in Mark thoughts, Jack began to pace in the front of the classroom, biting his bottom lip. He was here, this was his chance to finally clear up a year long misunderstanding and maybe even confess, but he had no idea where to start. He could feel a nervous energy start to build under his skin, but before he found himself on the verge of bailing out of this whole thing, he heard Mark clear his throat.

“Jack...did you bring me here to confess?” Jack felt his heart leap into his throat and he almost choked. How did….how did he know?

Mark looked at his hands, playing with his fingers awkwardly as he tried to force himself to continue speaking. “Did you want to talk to me about Amy?” The words felt thick in his throat, and he couldn’t help the slight waver at the end of his voice.

He didn’t know why he was acting this way. Amy was into girls, and even if she wasn’t, there was no way she would say yes to Jack when she knew how Mark felt about him. Still, there was a lingering feeling of self-doubt that he just couldn’t quite shake.

Jack didn’t know what to say. First of all, he was deeply confused. When Mark had asked if Jack was here to confess, he’d almost jumped for joy. It had been shocking, but it had almost made him more confident, however….

Secondly, Jack had no idea how Mark had come the conclusion that he was into Amy. He couldn’t recall ever acting in a way that would even make Mark think that. Jack had even said that he was into guys!

He felt a nervous laugh bubble up through his throat and slapped a hand over his mouth to keep it from spilling out. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, and Jack watched as Mark’s unsure expression shifted into one of irritation. _Oh no, he thinks I’m laughing about the thought of liking Amy_.

It felt like he fucked up, and Jack didn’t know what to do. This was not how he wanted to this to go, not in the least. Lost in his panicked thoughts, Jack almost missed Mark standing up from the desk.

Mark didn’t plan on staying here for any longer. The fact that Jack had _laughed_ , it made him more upset than the idea of Jack hating him. Amy was an amazing girl, and anyone would be lucky to have her. There were some days that Mark wished he’d been born straight, just so that he could love her, incase there was no one else who could treat her right.

He stood up, the sound of his chair loud as it scraped against the floor, and he made his way towards the front of the room, walking past Jack. The irishman felt a panic overcome him and before he knew what was happened, Jack felt his hand grasp Mark’s shoulder, yanking him backwards rather violently.

Mark nearly tripped, however the heavy grip on his shirt was what saved him from landing on his ass. As quickly as Jack had grabbed him, he let go and pulled back, a heavy blush settling over his pale skin.

“I-I’m gay!” It seemed like the only thing to say, but after the words were out of his mouth, Jack felt the heat of embarrassment sink into his skin. _Is that all you could say?_

The two simply watched each other in a tense sort of silence, the only sounds coming from the hallway as leftover students roamed around, not yet wanting to go home. It felt like an eternity before Jack spoke again, the pink tinge of his cheeks still heavy and hot.

“I…. I mean, why did you think that, that I liked Amy? Not that there’s anything wrong with liking her! She’s an awesome person, I know, but….” He paused for a second, trying to force himself to calm down.

His heart was a heavy thud in his chest and the look Mark was giving him did nothing to alleviate any amount of his panic. “I...thought I told you I liked guys?” Was how he trailed off.

This time, it was Mark turn to blush and berate himself. He felt stupid, absolutely _stupid_ . Amy herself can even told him that his assumption about who Jack liked was false, but he’d _stupidly_ ignored her, something that seemed to result in terrible scenarios for him even in the past. It was like he never learned.

“Well, I’m not sure.” He confessed. It was true. Other than his bullshit assumptions, there were no grounds in which Mark could actually base his accusations on. “And, I thought you were...bi?” Mark inwardly flinched at his attempt to explain himself, hearing in his voice just how weak the excuse was. He glanced up to see Jack frowning, and felt his heart drop. _Oh, he probably hates me even more now…_

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled, though Mark wasn’t sure his apology would be taken.

Surprising Mark, Jack motioned for him to sit back down and took a deep breath. He was tired of misunderstandings and now was finally the time to get things cleared out. It had already been long enough, and he wasn’t up for letting the awkward tensions go on for any longer. He felt tempted to continue his pacing, but looking at Mark, who now seemed to be even more unnerved, he sighed and sat down, turning a desk so that they could face each other.

Jack forced his mouth open, and asked his first question. “Do you remember physics? Last year?” He could see the flinch Mark tried so hard to hide and the guilt threatened him to give up on this attempt. Instead, he ignored it and waited for a response.

“Yes…” Mark said, his voice quiet. He reverted to his nervous tick of playing with his fingers, almost scaring himself when he cracked a knuckle. He wasn’t sure why Jack was bringing this up now, nor what it had to do with anything. Was he here to explain his actions? Apologize? Or something else?

“Okay, good. Do you remember...when I requested a partner change?” Jack continued on. The discomfort on Mark’s face continued to grow, but he pushed past it and nodded. Jack let out a soft sigh and breathed in deeply before letting out a year's worth of apologies.

“Mark, I’m so sorry. I fucked up, and it's all my fault. I never meant to hurt you, and I realize now just how negatively my actions affected you. I thought you hated me which is why I asked for a partner change, and I never thought to really think out my actions, but I know now and I'm _sorry._ And…and-” _I like you._ He couldn't quite force out the last part, not yet. The words sat thickly at the tip of his tongue, weighing down his jaw.

No one spoke for a while, and Jack began to nearly regret doing all of this. How could he explain his feelings for Mark when the other boy probably still hated him? Afterall, who was to say that Mark would automatically accept his apology? It had been a year. A year of awkwardness every time the two were near each other, a tense feeling in the air if they ever caught each other’s glance, a sense of discomfort if they were too close.

Too stuck in his emotions, Jack failed to see the barely concealed twist of pain on Mark’s face. During his entire apology, Mark had been struck by a rather sudden and demanding headache that almost threatened to split his head into two. He tried to ignore it, to listen to Jack’s words, but the pain was nearly overwhelming. It wasn’t until he caught the _I like you_ that things started to shift back into focus.

Despite the pain, Mark was more than sure that Jack’s mouth hadn’t moved when he heard those words. He tried to tell himself that he was just hearing things, but it continued, a sudden bombardment of, no longer pain, but intrusive thoughts about regret and panic and other things that were most definitely _not_ his own thoughts.

Moving swiftly, Mark slapped a hand over Jack’s mouth, an effort to try and find the source of all these thoughts flying through his head. Unfortunately, they only stuttered to a short stop before continuing.

_Is he okay? Why is his hand over my mouth? Oh my god, he has huge hands._

Mark felt himself blush and stood up quickly, almost tripping in his effort to pull away from the desk. His head felt like it was spinning and all he could do not to pass out was run to the door, shouting out a brief, “I’m sorry! And I like you too!” before he was gone and down the hall, zipping past a small group of freshman sitting by their open lockers.

Jack was left in a stunned sort of silence, not entirely sure what had just happened, or if anything had even happened in the first place. The heat of Mark’s hand over his mouth was still there, and he slowly brought his fingers to his lips before biting down on the plush surface.

Mark...had said that he ‘liked him too’? Despite the elation in his chest, Jack was more than aware that he hadn’t said that part out loud, and yet Mark still knew…

He sighed, banged his head briefly on the desk, and then pulled his phone out in a rush.

* * *

Mark had never rushed home faster in his entire life. It was like someone had lit a fire behind him, and the only way to keep from getting burnt was to run as fast as he could. The entire time, his headache began to build again, the thoughts of everyone around him piercing through his head. It _hurt_.

By the time he got home, he was sweaty and panting, his hair in a rough dishevel that looked as though someone had purposely combed all of it in the wrong direction. From the silence that greeted him, no one was home and he let out a drawn out sigh of relief before tumbling up the stairs to his bedroom.

Opening the door, he threw his bag into a corner and looked around frantically for a bottle of painkillers that he kept around for emergency purposes. He was tempted to almost down the entire bottle due to just how intense the pain was, but he cautioned himself, shaking out two before swallowing them dry.

He almost coughed at the chalky consistency but he managed to choked them down. It would be awhile before they took any sort of effect, and he let himself drop down onto his bed, pulling up the sheets around him.

A sudden pressure at the end of the bed almost made his jump until he felt something lick his hand. Pulling the sheets back slightly, he came face to face with a furry white body. Lucy turned to look at him, and Mark swore he could see concern in her big brown eyes. He gave her a soft smile and pulled up the sheets just enough for her to slip in and snuggle up against his body.

Lucy was a big girl, basically Mark’s height when she was stretched out all the way, so it was like having another person beside him, someone who was really warm. Thankfully, it seemed like Mark’s new telepathic abilities didn’t extend towards animals, and he let out a sigh.

It took a bit for him to calm down completely. After about half an hour, the pain began to slowly dissipate. Mark had heard about some telepath having ranged abilities, and was eternally thankful that there was no one currently within his.

He sat up slowly from the bed, ending up in a sitting position with Lucy’s body across his lap. He’d be dealing with white fur everywhere for a few weeks, but he couldn’t find it in him to move her.

Mark knew he had to think this through. His life was steadily getting more and more complicated, and he had no idea how to handle it. Finding out that he was not only a pyro, but a shapeshifter as well had been enough complication in his life, but with whatever had happened earlier with Jack, which was a wholly different problem all on its own, as well as the addition of what _had_ to be a third ability, Mark could feel a different headache coming on.

There was no one that had a three abilites. Two was rare. _Three?_ Three was unheard of. While there was some information on the former, small stories of people exhibiting two abilities before vanishing, there were absolutely _none_ involving three.

He tried to think rationally. There was a chance that maybe...it was a fluke? It was also possible that maybe he had Shifted, an uncommon but not unheard of phenomenon. Mark had only heard of one case in his high school in which someone had Shifted.

One day, Pete Stumph, a speedster, had woken up no longer able to run faster than 15 miles per hour, and instead, had walked around the halls flickering between being fully visible and invisible.  

Shifting was a weird thing that no one could truly explain. In some cases, it only happened when someone went through some sort of extreme stress, such as nearly freezing to death only for one to shift from a aerokinetic to a pyro.

In these scenarios, the individual typically remained within the same Class. However, there were also cases of very sudden and random Shifts, such was the deal with Pete Stumph.

Mark gently removed Lucy from his lap, causing the pup to whine slightly. She had fallen asleep during their mini cuddle session, but Mark needed to move her in order to test out his theory. He started off with what he knew he was good at: _fire._

It was like second nature to him at this point, the growing heat he felt beneath his skin that continued to build and build and build. He pushed it out steadily until he could feel the heat collect under his fingertips, threatening to spill out. It was an almost... _orgasmic_ sensation to let it out, and Mark released a short stuttered breath.

With his fingertips now lit, looking like individual lighters, he closed his hands into a fist, gathered the flames in the center of his palms, and then clapped his hands together, watching as sparks shot out in what could be a brilliant light show on a larger scale.

The entire things had been something he learned to impress Amy earlier in their friendship. She’d laughed gleefully as the spark rained harmlessly down around her and told him how _cool_ it was that he was a pyro, the first time someone had ever said that.

They’d joked that if they never found proper jobs after graduation, they would travel the world and put on shows, combining Amy’s flight with Mark’s pyrotechnics.

After the sparks dissipated completely, Mark sighed. He was still a pyro, which meant that the Shift _had_ to have occurred with his shapeshifting ability. He didn’t want to think about the other option, the one that would ruin his life.

Mark looked around his bedroom to make sure that he had enough space. Lucy was still on his bed, watching him with wide, puppy-dog eyes. It was strange how such a big dog could still seem so young.

Looking away, Mark sighed and pulled his shirt over his head before stepping out of his pants. He kept his underwear on, to keep some sort of modesty. He took a deep breath. The entire shapeshifting thing was not quite yet something he had a complete handle on.

He decided on a cat, seeing as how it was the simplest choice in his opinion, as well as something that he’d done before.

Though the pain of shifting had been significantly reduced, as well as the amount of time that it took, it still wasn’t as easy as conjuring flames. The breaking and rearranging of his bones didn’t necessarily _hurt_ , but it still felt less than pleasant. He felt his body gradually shrink as he fell onto his hands and knees. Mark only closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, he was a sleep black cat with shiny fur and tired eyes.

_Fuck_. He growled under his breath as he padded around his bedroom. In his frustration, he almost failed to notice the giant hulking frame of Lucy as she stood before him.

**_Bark!_ **

Mark froze and mentally cursed himself. This was the first time he’d ever shifted in front of Lucy and _how could he have been so much of an idiot?!_ Lucy leaned forward carefully, wariness in her stance, before sniffing at him. Mark meowed, the sound small and pitiful.

_It smells like Mark…_ An unfamiliar voice filtered through Mark’s head. He hadn’t realized he’d closed his eyes again and when he opened them, Lucy was sitting on her hind legs, watching him curiously.

_Meow. “Lucy.”_ The dog sat up straight, looking around the room in a confused manner before looking back at the cat in front of her. _“Lucy. It’s me, Mark.”_ He felt ridiculous meowing at his dog, but there wasn’t much else he could do.

_Cat is...Mark? But Mark is human…_ The voice from earlier was back, and Mark almost groaned in frustration. It was _Lucy_ he was hearing. It seemed as though, depending on what form he was in, Mark could either hear human thoughts or animal thoughts. Lucy barked again.

_“I can’t understand you when you bark. I can only hear your thoughts.”_ He meowed with a huff. Lucy gave him a look he couldn’t quite decipher.

_How is cat, Mark?_ She moved forward and gently pawed at Mark’s head. Leaning forward to occasionally sniff at him. With as much of a frown as a cat was capable of mustering, Mark sat there and watched Lucy, only moving when she tried to step on his tail.

He didn’t have time for this and shifted back, stretching out sore muscles. The sudden flush of _cold_ to his system was nearly overwhelming and Mark didn’t have the time to analyze Lucy’s confusion over him being human again.

He quickly grabbed a pair of sweatpants from a drawer, pulling them on, as well as the thickest sweater he owned, draped over his mirror. Unfortunately, the freezing sensation continued to persist, making his teeth chatter.

Mark wasn’t used to being this cold. Correction: Mark had _never_ been this cold. It was one of the perks to being a pyrokinetic. He could feel the panic growing in his gut again and there was only one person he trusted enough to call, even if it meant breaking his promise to himself.

Shaky hands reached for his phone, trapped within the confines of his jeans. Quickly, he pressed her name, waiting impatiently for the call to connect. He shivered.

“A-Amy… I-I have a problem.”

* * *

Jack was stuck sitting in the same seat, even five minutes after Mark had booked it out of the room. After the shock and confusion faded, he grabbed his phone out of his pocket and made an attempt to call Signe. The phone rang for several moments before connecting the call.

“Signe!” Jack started. He heard a chuckle on the other side, one that was decidedly not feminine in the least.

“Sorry, you got the wrong best friend, but what can I do for you Jack?” He pulled his phone away from his ear and looked down at the screen to see that he’d called Robin by accident instead. It didn’t matter in the end, he planned on telling both of them in the end.

“Shit, sorry. I mean to call Signe, but since it’s you, I’ll just….tell you now. Mark, he….” Jack paused, not knowing how to really go about explaining what had just happened. He himself was still highly confused.

Robin interrupted his scattered thoughts. “Jack! Buddy! Calm down!” Jack let out a long breath and took a few seconds to calm the pounding in his chest. “Okay, so start from the beginning. What happened with Mark?”

Jack started slow. “I...I asked him if I could talk to him privately, and so we went to an empty classroom together, and he...he asked if I was here to confess. I thought he knew, but then he asked if I liked _Amy_. I panicked and kinda...I kinda shouted out that I’m gay.”

Robin was silent for a few moments before he let out a loud cheer.

“Dude! This is great! Now you can stop being all weird and love sick when you see him and maybe get your sorry ass a boyfriend!” Robin sounded cheerful, but when he heard nothing else from Jack, he grew concerned. “Is there...more to the story?” He asked, voice more subdued.

Jack nodded, which was ridiculous because Robin wasn’t in the room to see it. “I came really close to saying it. I almost confessed. But then, he started acting weird, got what looked like a really bad headache, and jetted out of the classroom. But Robin, that’s not the weirdest part. While he was leaving, he said ‘ _I like you too’._ Robin, I didn’t say it outloud. I _thought_ it. How did he know?”

Another round of silence, though this time, the air felt weird. Robin made a small sound on the other side of the call, but Jack was too frazzled to try and decipher what it meant.

“Maybe...he’s a Double? Robin finally spoke. Jack paused. _Double?_ He had no idea what that was, had never heard the term before. “I mean, maybe he has two abilities. That’s what Doubles are, it’s just not a widely used term ‘cause not many of them even exist in the first place. But maybe...Mark’s one.”

Jack wanted to laugh. The idea seemed ridiculous. Those with two abilities were were _incredibly_ rare. Rare enough that the word _Double_ wasn’t even used in day to day conversation.

“That’s impossible, Robin. And I mean, even if he was, I’m pretty sure the ONA would have caught on by now, right?” He said.

“Not necessarily.” Robin said, his voice oddly serious. Jack was a bit worried about the sudden change of tone in Robin’s voice. The blond was normally super smiley and easy-going. It was so rare to hear this side of him, and Jack wasn’t so sure that he liked it.

Robin sighed. “You said he had a headache right? I really bad one? Was he clutching at his head or what?” He asked.

Jack thought back to how Mark had been flinching back in pain. It hadn’t looked that bad, but it must have had to been terrible if Mark made such a fast getaway. “It looked like it hurt a lot.” He finally said. “But I assumed the discomfort on his face had to do with being in such….such an awkward situation with me. I mean, I almost _confessed_ to him.”

Robin made a sound of affirmation. “So you were...thinking about confessing? Jack, when my telekinesis began to really set in when I was a kid, it caused terrible, head-splitting headaches. I could barely think. They’re pretty common when it comes to the development of Class A’s, since we’re all psychic focused, powers of the mind and all that jazz. There could be the chance that Mark...he might be a Double.”

Jack laughed. This time, there was no holding it back. That was _impossible_. The only plausible idea could be that Mark just had really good intuition and was just struck with a bad headache at the same time. Coincidences happened, even if this one seemed to be very well timed.

Despite the reasoning in his head, Jack couldn’t quite convince himself that Robin was wrong. Things fit together way too well. He sighed heavily.

“But hey, maybe I’m just making shit up and he just had a regular headache, right? Or maybe she Shifted? Who knows… Don’t stress about the little things, Jack. Just think about the main point, he said he _likes you._ Celebrate! Get your gay on!” Robin’s usual upbeat attitude was back and Jack was nearly struck with whiplash at how fast it turned around.

“Yeah….maybe you’re right.” He mumbled.

The two said their goodbyes with Jack thanking Robin. However, with his phone back in his pocket and his bag swung over his shoulder, Jack was feeling even more confused than ever. He sighed and brushed his hair out of his face.

This was a tomorrow sort of problem, he decided, and made his way out of the classroom to walk to his locker.

* * *

They watched with curious eyes as the teenage boy paced back and forth by the window of his bedroom, moving in and out of sight. He looked tense, which was a reasonable state of being, but they continued to watch.

Standing at the end of the street amidst the teenagers and children coming home from school and extracurricular activities, they were still hidden, invisible. From the corner of their eye, they watched as a girl, the same age as the boy in the room with bleach blonde hair and dark roots, crossed the street and ran into the house.

She was most likely a close friend, an assumption made obvious by the fact that she had a key to the house. They watched the door slam shut behind her and finally, she reappeared in the same bedroom window and the boy.

They sighed, the sound inaudible to all but themself, before pulling out a device from their pocket. Typing out a quick message, they pressed send and turned away. “ _Subject 0 has revealed himself.”_

Things were beginning to move now and there was much to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things: 1) I'm gonna compile a sort of glossary for the terms and words that I use in this fic, so if y'all are interested in it ('cause I know I'm terrible at explaining things in fic), I'll put it in the notes of the next chapter  
> 2) Things are getting serious now!!! I warned you all that I had big plans and things are starting to move. I hope you're prepared  
> 3) MARK IS A TELEPATH. THE THIRD ABILITY HAS BEEN REVEALED. I'm curious about what others thought it was gonna be, but thanks Uma (emeraldcitydowntowngirl) for helping me pick way back when  
> 4) I had other things to say but I've forgotten them, so....
> 
> Hehe...if you ever wanna yell at me, or talk to me, my Tumblr is theworldinallitshonestterrors
> 
> Also, next chapter is gonna be a Amy/Signe perspective chapter, so I hope ya'll enjoy it


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's chapter seven! This time, it didn't take three months, and I'm quite proud of myself (though I definitely coulda tried to finish it before Christmas and all, but...) MOVING ON, I hope ya'll enjoyed this. It's always tough writing Signe's section for chapter 'cause she's something I haven't gotten a full grasp on her personality yet, but hopefully it's still okay? I coulda done better, but it is what it is now. Anyhow, for those of you who were curious about the glossary, it'll be in the end notes, so hopefully it clears up anything. I'll add to it in future end notes if any other terms ever come up.

Amy rushed over in a blind panic. She’d been home with her brother alone watching a movie with him when she’d gotten Mark’s call. Without a thought, she was up and out of the house, yelling over her shoulder a short “Gotta go!” to her brother as she left the door swinging behind her.

When she got to Mark’s house and found the door locked with seemingly no one home, Amy was never more thankful for the fact that Ms. Fischbach had given her a spare key, along with the words: “You’re family. Our home if your home.” Jamming the key into the lock, she twisted it in a hurry, the force nearly snapping the thin metal.

Amy had never been in this much of a rush in her entire life, not even when she’d woken up on the day her brother was born, only to be told that her mother was already at the hospital and she _better get her fucking ass up now before she misses everything._

Nearly slamming the door open, she had enough sense of mind to throw it closed behind her before taking the stairs two at a time up to Mark’s room. She nearly tripped as she got to the top but managed to save herself from face planting onto the hardwood flooring. Mark’s bedroom door was closed and when she finally entered, Amy let out a small gasp.

Mark’s entire body was consumed by a mass of sheets and comforters, pulled over his head and every other body part. The only reason she knew he was there was because Lucy, who was atop the sheets, was laying with her back up against a solid weight. She stared in silence for a few moments, catching the slight trembles that caused the sheets to shift.

 _Shivering? Why? A_ my moved forward slowly and called out. “Mark? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” There was no response, which cause Amy’s concern to grow. Once she was close enough, she pulled the bedding away from his face and slid a hand over his now exposed cheek, almost flinching back when she felt how _cold_ it was.

His glasses were still on, thought slightly askew, and his eyes were tightly clenched, as though he were in pain. Amy had no idea what was going on. Mark had never acted this way before, he’d never been so _damn cold._ Not having any other plan, she ran back into the hall where she knew the thermostat was, leaving Lucy to watch her back curiously.

Amy raised it as high as she dared, enough for it to be obvious when it kicked in, but also hopefully low enough that it wouldn’t cause a spike in the heating bill. It also happened to be the beginning of fall weather, where it wasn’t even cold enough for cardigans and sweaters.

Waiting anxiously, she stripped off her long-sleeved top to sit in her undershirt instead, the temperature finally beginning to rise. Amy leaned over Mark once more, gently placing a hand on his forehead to check if he was still cold. With a worried frown, she pulled back. He was still freezing, the added heat doing next to nothing to help.

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck. I don’t know what to do… Mark, please._ Amy could feel the panic rising in her chest and her thoughts began to grow sporadic. She opened her mouth to say something, only to be cut off by a sudden shout.

“SHUT UP!”

Amy’s mouth fell shut, an empty look on her face as she gazed down at Mark, not sure if she’d just heard what she thought she’d heard. Lucy had jumped up as well, and from her reaction, Amy was sure. Mark had just... _yelled_ at her, something that had never ever happened in all the time the two had been friends. She felt a bit sharp sense of bitterness hit her before it melted into concern. Mark wouldn’t yell for no reason, which meant that whatever was wrong, it was very wrong.

“Mark? Mark, look at me. What’s wrong.” She asked carefully, keeping her voice soft and light. He began to pull himself out of the mass of blankets, revealing his face to be stricken and terrified, almost like he wasn’t in his right mind. The concern Amy felt in her chest doubled and she moved quickly to sit at his side, rubbing his back gently.

“I….I can hear your thoughts, Amy. All of them. It hurts.” His voice was a soft gasp, like he hadn’t spoken in years. She felt his own hands come up around her back to grasp at the thin material of her shirt, pulling her closer into his as he buried his head into the crook of her neck.

Lucy shifted as well, moving from her previous position of being back to back with Mark to sitting with her paws laid across both of their laps, her body defensive, like she was going to protect them both from whatever was hurting Mark. The hand that wasn’t rubbing Mark back moved to stroke the soft fur of her head.

Amy sighed. When she’d woken up this morning, her biggest worry had been about how she was going to get through all the stupid rumours _someone_ had spread, not dealing with the fact that apparently, her best friend was not only a pyrokinetic, but also telepath? Her life was spiraling out of control, but rather than freak out about it, she calmed her thoughts and tried to keep her mind empty of words, instead filling it was whatever pleasant song she could think of in that moment.

“Come.” She said briefly, pulling at Mark’s larger hulking body. She positioned herself with her back against the bedframe and pulled Mark’s head from her neck to her lap. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled in tight, while Lucy moved as well, once again back-to-back with him. They stayed there in silence for awhile, Amy wanting the both of them calm before she started on her line of questions.

It didn’t seem to take as long as she thought it would, as Mark’s breath evened out within the next five minutes. His grip around her waist loosened slowly, but he didn’t pull back completely, something Amy didn’t really mind. The two of them had always been touchy-feely, something that sure, yes, had led to their predicament earlier that day, but was just something that came naturally to them. It helped that they were both incredibly gay and thus no romantic feelings were ever capable of developing.

Amy dragged a hand through his hair and smiled gently when he looked up at her, the glassy look in his eyes still there, but significantly diminished. She opened her mouth and felt his own sharp intake of breath, like he was bracing himself for whatever was about to happen.

“So, you read thoughts?” She asked quietly. Mark sighed heavily, his breath rough.

“Yeah, apparently.” He said and dropped his head again. Amy watched as he avoided her eyes, like he was ashamed or scared of her reaction to whatever was going on, like she was scared of _him._ She resisted the urge to laugh. That could never be possible.

“How?” She felt as he played with his own fingers behind her back and Amy smiled softly again, even if he couldn’t see her. “Did you...Switch? Or…?” She didn’t continue that thought, the meaning obvious. Was he a _Double_. Mark tensed at thought, causing the previous worry in Amy’s gut to start building up again.

“I...I don’t know. I...Amy, I need to tell you something. You’ll be the only one who knows, and I’m so sorry I hid it but I was so scared and I didn’t know what to do.” His grip tightened and Amy smoothed a hand over his hair, trying to soothe him.

“I can shapeshift. I could do it since the summer after I first met you. I didn’t Switch, obviously. I can still control fire, but Amy. I could do both. And then- and then today! Today, I was talking to Jack, or he was talking to me, and I heard his voice in my _head_ and he hadn’t said anything out loud. He said _in his head_ that he _likes me_ , but I was freaking out and my head started to hurt and I could hear everyone hanging out in the hallway and so I ran home. It was too much, Amy. It hurt so much—”

He cut himself off and Amy felt tears soak into her pants. Not knowing what else to do, she took a moment to even out her own errated breathing and gently scratching at the nape of his neck like she’d do when they were normally relaxing. It had the same effect as always, ‘causing Mark to let out a tiny sigh of relief.

“Mark...I won’t leave you. I mean, all of this. It’s crazy. Really fucking crazy, but I won’t abandon you. I’m your friend. Your _best_ friend, and I’m not gonna go away just because things have gotten a bit...complicated.” Amy explained. She felt him snort against her thigh and had to resist the urge to laugh at the ticklish sensation it produced.

Once again, Mark lifted his head. “You sure?” He asked. When she nodded, he set his head down again, though shifted his body so he was laying on his stomach with his hands out in front of him, playing gently with his fingers.

“So, Jack.” Amy said after a few moments of silence. Mark tensed for a few moments before she felt him relax again, as though he was willing his anxiety away. “Jack.” He repeated after her. “Do you think maybe he triggered the start of your new ability? I’ve heard that when young children first gain their abilities sometimes, it’s due to really strong emotions. Maybe...,maybe you really wanted to know what he was thinking about you and so you just suddenly... _could._ ” She theorized.

Amy watched as Mark processed her words, thinking them over before opening his mouth to respond. “Maybe. I was just really stressed. After what had happened where I told him I was gay and he told me he ‘liked boys’, which I really thought meant that he was bi, I was really scared about what was going to happen. He brought me back to the room that we had been in and he explained that he was gay and I suddenly thought ‘wow, maybe this is my chance,’ and then….and then my head started hurting really bad and I could just hear _everything._ I heard him say that he liked me, and I ran out of the room saying ‘I like you too’. Amy, I think I fucked up. How crazy do I have to be to respond to something that wasn’t even said out loud?” He grumbled.

Amy just smiled. “I’m sure it’ll be sure. I mean, he was probably confused, but he’ll forget about it. What we should be focused on first, not to say that the whole ‘HOLY SHIT, THE TWO OF YOU LIKE EACH OTHER. I KNEW THE WHOLE TIME’ thing isn’t important, but we should probably figure out the radius, I guess, of your telepathy.”

Mark looked like he wanted to do anything but that, but Amy nudged him softly with her knee. “Fine. I can’t hear anything now. Other than you, I mean. I can hear you trying to stop thinking, but it’s fine. It doesn’t hurt as much. Not like earlier. I guess the neighbors are far away enough that they’re not within the radius, but earlier, when I had...shapeshifted, I could hear Lucy. I think I can also hear thoughts based on whether I’m an animal or a human.” He summarized. Amy took that in and nodded in understanding.

“So let’s say that your range is about the circumference of your house. As soon as I walked through the door, could you hear me?” She asked. Mark shook his head.

“No, I think I was still a bit too shell-shocked to know what was going on. I could hear you, but I don’t know when. I was too lost in my head. I was too _cold._ ” Amy nodded again.

“Yeah, speaking of that. You _were_ freezing when I came up here. I touched your skin and it felt like ice, which has never happened before. I even raised the heat in the house to see if it would help any.” She told him. Mark glanced at her, glasses still slightly slanted over his eyes, making him looks slightly childlike. “Weird.” Was all he said, and Amy huffed her agreement.

She glanced up in thought, trying to reason things out in her head, quickly forgetting the fact that Mark could hear every one of her thoughts. He was nice enough not to say anything. “Did you test anything when you got home? To see if you had Shifted or anything? Because if so, it might have been overexertion. Maybe you did too much and the only way your body could process it was to briefly remove your pyrokinesis, and because that ability is so deeply ingrained in you, with it gone, you couldn’t regulate your body temperature.” She said. Mark’s eyes were wide and for a few moments, it was just silence, until he grinned.

“Amy, you’re a goddamn _genius._ I mean, there’s no way of knowing that for certain, but it’s sure as hell a better theory than I could think of.” He said. Amy grinned back.

“Glad to be of service. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s coming up with bullshit theories about things I know next to nothing about.” She said simply. “Huh, maybe I can make a job out of this. Fuck going to college or anything. I could be _rich._ ” Her voice was delightfully deadpan.

Mark let out a sharp bark of a laugh, causing Lucy to shift her head and look at the two of them like they were idiots. Mark, still smiling, reached behind him to scratch behind her ears, fur sticking up in random direction as he pulled back. Her expression quickly melted from one of annoyance to a look of fondness, if dogs were even capable of that. Amy imagined they were, or at least, Lucy was. She was strangely smart about certain things.

“What do we do tomorrow?” Mark suddenly asked her, his voice quiet and subdued. Amy was surprised, but she didn’t let it show, instead closing her eyes briefly. “I don’t know, but we’ll think of something.” She told him. He nodded.

Laying his head back down, Mark closed his eyes and Amy felt herself start to hum. It wasn’t any song in particular, probably something she’d heard somewhere one day that had just gotten lost in her memory until now, but it was pleasant enough, soft and low. It helped to keep her thoughts at bay, and Amy was thankful as it also seemed to soothe Mark who slowly closed his eyes, his breath evening out to a pace that she knew meant that he was close to sleep.

Glancing at the clock next to the bed, Amy knew it was much too early to really go to bed, but with everything that had happened, she was mentally, and now basically physically, exhausted. Running all the way to Mark’s house had been no easy feat.

Lucy set her head down on the base of Mark’s bad and Amy watched for a moment as it slowly moved up and down in time with his breaths. Humming the last of the song she couldn’t name, Amy fell asleep as well, hoping that the next day would be better. Afterall, how could things get any worse?

* * *

Signe was lost in her thoughts as she walked home among the rest of the non-seniors. It was still weird that she didn’t get to see Jack and Robin in the afternoons anymore, with the two of them being in their last year, but she was slowly getting used to it, or at least, that’s what she tried to tell herself every time she thought about how much she missed them. But now was not a time to think about those two. Instead, she was still caught on the text message conversation she’d had with Jack earlier.

What he’d said about two girls harassing Amy… Signe had never been a violent person. If anything, she thought of herself as a pacifist, that things didn’t need to result in physical violence or altercations in order to get over conflicts, but something about this…

It had caused a rage she’d never known before to bubble up in the pit of her stomach and Signe almost felt sick with it, like if she didn’t do something about the feeling, it would overflow and she’d lose control. This was the first time she’d ever liked someone so _intensely,_ and while the feeling was new and scary, she didn’t hate it.

Sure, it seemed to gnaw on her nerves a bit, but it was something she was learning to appreciate. _Maybe this is what_ love _is._ She joked to herself before throwing the thought aside. Love? She was too young for love. Signe sighed and rubbed carefully at her eyes, not wanting to smudge her eyeliner. She’d done it extra thick this morning and pushing it around would result in what could only be considered ‘raccoon eyes’.

Her thoughts quickly fell back to the details of earlier, but instead of focusing on what had happened, Signe forced herself to try and think of what she was going to do about it. Out of the two people involved with Amy’s harassment, she only knew one of them, Charlotte. They shared a senior/junior AP English class, which would be helpful in confronting her easily. Signe tried to think of a good course of action.

The easiest thing to do would be to casually mention the rumours of Mark of Amy, and that she’d learned something more. Hopefully, it would catch Charlotte’s attention and they would be able to talk privately, only for Signe to turn everything around and get back at her. It was a pretty shit plan, seeing as how there were so many things that could actually end up going wrong.

First of all, Amy was in the same class. If she heard anything, it would end really badly for Signe and in her opinion, there was no way she’d be able to forgive herself if she made Amy feel even worse. It would be defeating the purpose of doing this whole thing in the first place. Second, there was the chance of Charlotte not waiting to talk in private. If she was as boastful as Signe had seen her in the past, it was possible she’d talk within hearing range of Amy, resulting in the same failure as the first problem. And third, just Amy seeing the two of them talking quietly in the first place? Signe didn’t want to imagine what she would think.

Still, Signe felt she had to do _something._ This was a girl she’d liked for a long time and just sitting around while Amy was basically being bullied? She knew the other girl could take care of herself, and even then, she also had Mark as support despite the fact that him defending her would only further aggravate the rumours, but still. Signe couldn’t let things just fly past her. Just because she wasn’t usually the fighting type, it didn’t mean that she wasn’t the confrontational type either.

She thought about how she would’ve reacted if it was someone else and not Amy who’d been subjected to all of this. Signe knew herself, and she knew herself well. The same feelings to defend would be there, but they most likely would not have been as strong. Signe was well know, and dare she say, even popular. It came with being pretty, she guessed, and she knew for damn sure that she was smart too.

She was the type of person that others gravitated to, and so she was well known. She had a reputation, and perhaps getting aggressive with an upperclassman wasn’t in her best interests, but in this moment, Signe lost her ability to care. Reputation meant nothing during moments like this.

Letting herself breathe, Signe let out a long sigh. This was a problem she’d hash out the details for later, but for now, she briefly thought about the other thing Jack had brought up. The fact that Mark was gay too...it was like a happy coincidence, or at least, it would’ve been in Signe even believed in coincidences. She smiled briefly to herself, glad that, even if the progress was slow, Jack was getting closer to his happy ending. Hopefully after the whole Amy/Mark thing got cleared up, she would be able to as well.

Signe knew the way Mark looked at Jack. She wasn’t blind, only her poor irish buddy was. But it was how most things went when a person had a crush, they just turned blind to everything else. Things would work out, she knew that for certain, and if it didn’t, and Mark ended up hurting Jack in any way, she’d sure as hell be there to punch him in the face.

She sighed and turned a corner, finally letting herself relax. Walking halfway down the block, she approached her house and walked in, waving a brief ‘hello’ to her sister who was already home and sprawled across the couch. Signe headed up the stairs to her bedroom and pulled out her phone to check if Jack had ever responded to her. There was nothing but an empty lockscreen that still had the default iPhone background, something she’d been meaning to change but wasn’t sure to what quite yet.

It was strange. She knew he’d been busy in his last morning class, he usually was. The fact that he’d even texted her during then had been a surprise. Now? It was well into the beginning of his afternoon classes and Signe knew that Mr. Kramer didn’t really care about cell phone usage, as long as it didn’t get in the way of classwork. She shrugged and decided not to stress about it. Jack was a big boy and he’d text her when he was ready.

For now, Signe took a quick look over her plants, making sure they were all doing well, before throwing open her bag and pulling out the things she’d need to start working on immediately. There was a reason she was known for being super smart, and it wasn’t dumb luck.

\- - -

At some point in the afternoon, Signe received a call from Jack. It wasn’t really a cause for concern, but it also wasn’t something she was going to just pass off. There weren’t many moments in which Jack would call instead of text. Normally, calling was reserved for when her friend was stressed, troubled and confused, or he had big news that he couldn’t find the patience to type out.

Sighing, Signe pulled her phone out from under one of her books where it had fallen at some point. She slid her finger over the screen to accept the call and put it up to her ear, opening her mouth to say ‘Hello’, but before she could even get a sound out, Jack was already speaking.

“I’ve got news about Mark. _Big_ news, Woosh. Oh my god, I don’t even know what to do, Signe. I have so many thoughts.” He sounded half panicked and half... _relieved?_ Signe had no idea what could have caused this, and despite the fact that it was a monday afternoon and the two of them would have to go back to school the next day, Signe cut his tirade off.

“Come over. We’ll talk about it here, and you live close by anyway.” She told him calmly. Signe felt more than a little interested in whatever it was that Jack had to tell her, and typically, news of Mark had at least something to do with Amy. She imagined it had to do with the whole rumour thing again, and despite getting over her initial anger, Signe could feel a bubbling in the pit of her stomach. She just hoped that whatever it was, it wasn’t bad.

Jack made a small sound on the other side of the line that sounded suspiciously like confirmation before the call suddenly ended, leaving Signe sitting on her bed, holding her phone uselessly to her ear. She made a face at the screen as she pulled it back but shook her head and sighed, dragging a hand through her hair. Standing, she began to clear her books and things off from her bed. She’d done enough work for the night anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal, not that Jack coming over was a problem in the first place.

The two had known each other for a long time, and had been friends long enough for one of them showing up randomly at the other’s house to just be common practice. Signe even recalled a few times that she’d come home late to find Jack and her sister on the couch in the living room watching movies together as he waited for her. He was practically family, just of the Irish variety.

Walking down the stairs to wait for Jack, she caught sight of her sister. “Hey, Rikke. Jack’s coming over for a bit.” She said. Rikke simply waved her off, not really needing a warning. Signe rolled her eyes and plopped down next to her sister to wait. It wouldn’t really take long for Jack to arrive, depending on where he was coming from. If it was the school, then he’d be there in about ten to fifteen minutes, and from home, it would only take about two or three. She let her head drop onto Rikke’s shoulder who automatically lifted a hand to play with her hair.

The two sat in comfortable silence, the only sound coming from the tv, before Signe heard a knock on the front door. Pulling herself off the couch, she opened the door and took in the sight of her best friend standing before her, cheeks blushed bright red due to probably running the whole way here while his hair was disheveled and fell across his face in waves. The look on his face read of confusion and it make Signe worry.

Without saying anything, she pulled him into the house and closed the door behind him before ushering Jack into the kitchen so she could grab some snacks for the two of them. Rikke looked up briefly to say hi to Jack, who simply waved in response. Whatever had happened, it had been enough to turn a man who normally spoke non-stop into...this.

Signe kept her mouth shut into the two of them were safely stowed away in her bedroom. Jack still had his book bag, so she pulled it off his shoulders and tossed it carefully in the corner of the room where her own bag was. He took a seat at her desk and pulled a hand through his hair, pushing the strands away from his face and uncovering his eyes.

“Uhh…” He started. Signe took a seat on the edge of her bed and faced her body towards Jack, giving him her full attention.

“What happened, Sean?” She asked softly, not wanting to push Jack, but needing some way to actually start the conversation. Signe watched as Jack gently rung his hands and looked down at his lap briefly before glancing back up at her.

She noticed the soft intake of breath before he shook his head and sat up straight, as if psyching himself up to finally speak. “Mark….he….he told me that he _likes_ me. But! But that’s not all! I… I didn’t say anything out loud. I asked to talk to him so I could finally clear up the whole physics class misunderstanding, and he thought I liked Amy, which was super weird, and then...then, _in my head,_ I confessed, because I couldn’t say it out loud, not yet, but then…”

Jack took a stuttered breath and when Signe made a move to comfort him, concerned by the erratic nature of his breathing, he put up a hand to stop her.

“He looked like he was in pain, and he said ‘ _I like you too_ ’. And then he ran out of the room clutching his head and he was gone. Signe, I don’t know what happened. I’m so confused. He said ‘ _too_ ’, which either means that he’s always known and it just came out as a coincidence, or....or he _heard my thoughts._ ” Jack glanced up at Signe with wide eyes and she felt her heart pang a bit, the worry in Jack’s blue eyes bleeding into her. This time, she didn’t pull back, even when Jack tried to avoid her touch. Signe leaned across the space between them and placed both of her hands on his shoulders to settle him. He had been shaking, something she hadn’t realize until she felt him skin to skin.

Signe couldn’t tell why this had him so shaken up. Sure, the news was a bit nerve-racking. Either Mark had always known Jack liked him and finally returned his feelings, or...or Mark was telepathic, which simply _could not_ be the truth. She stopped herself. There was another more plausible idea, and it was that Mark had Shifted. Sighing internally, Signe had to convince herself that if Mark had suddenly developed telepathic abilities, it wasn’t because he was one of those incredibly rare individuals with _two._

Lost in her thoughts, Signe almost missed when Jack pulled back, causing her to nearly lose her balance and fall forward. “But that’s not all. I called Robin earlier. I meant to call you, but I guess I hit his name instead, and so I told him about everything too, and it...was _weird._ I mean, Robin is always weird, but it was almost suspiciously weird. He got all serious, which he _never_ does, and brought up the idea that maybe Mark’s a Double which is...it’s impossible. Right?”

Finally, Signe realized why Jack was so scared. He was worried that if Robin was right, then Mark would be taken away and… Signe had never realized just how strong Jack’s feelings for Mark were until now. It was true that those with two abilities were always found and taken by the ONA for unknown reasons. And if Mark was one of those individuals…She shook the thoughts from her head and instead looked up at Jack.

“That’s not the only options, Sean. I don’t… I don’t know why Robin would try and scare you like that, and we’ll definitely talk to him about it tomorrow, but for now, there are other things to discuss. I doubt he’s a Double, or whatever it is that you called him. If anything, he probably Shifted.” Jack’s attention perked at that and Signe continued.

“Remember my cousin Elias? A couple years ago, he’d gone through a Stressed Shift, super strength to super speed. He was being bullied, which sounds ridiculous. He could probably beat the hell out of all of them, but I guess pacifism runs in my family, and so he would run instead. One day, it got really bad and he...he just _ran._ He ended up about two miles outside of town before he realized what was happening and his abilities changed just in that instant. They deemed it a  Stressed Shift due to the fact that he’d been incredibly scared while running away, and he stayed within the same Class.” When Signe stopped talking, she noticed that Jack had calmed down significantly, and was instead listening intently.

“So, if he Shifted… But Mark is a pyrokinetic, how could he have Shifted to a Class A ability?” He asked. Signe rubbed the back of her neck.

“Well, Stressed Shifts aren’t the only type of Shifts. I don’t know much about them, but there can also be Random Shifts that occur for unknown reasons. It can also cause a Shift from one Class to another. No one knows why it happens.” She explained. Jack nodded his head in understanding before letting out a long and drawn out sigh, one Signe couldn’t tell if was genuine or faked.

She watched as Jack stretched in his seat before grabbing one of the poptarts she’d brought up. Standing briefly, he plopped down next to her on the bed instead, tearing open the package and taking a large bite, dropping crumbs all down his chest. Signe made a face but said nothing. Crumbs were easy enough to clean. With his head in her pillows, Jack closed his eyes.

“Today...was a long day.” He said, and Signe smiled.

“Of course it was, it’s a Monday.” She joked, scooting herself down the bed so that she could lay next to him. “Also, we still haven’t talked about Mark’s confession. Regardless of why he said ‘ _too_ ’, it means that he both knows and feels the same. What are you gonna do about it?” She asked.

Signe resisted the urge to laugh when she heard Jack nearly choke on his next bite of the strawberry pastry. “I… hadn’t thought that far.” He confessed, and at that, Signe really did laugh. She rolled over so that her head was tucked into the crook of his neck and raised a hand to gently pat at his head.

“Don’t worry too much about it. We’ll figure it out together.” She promised him. Signe felt as Jack let out a soft sigh and moved on to another conversation topic. It felt nice to just… relax. It felt a bit weird, with Robin missing, but it was still nice. Though, with what Jack had told her, Signe had some suspicions about the blonde man’s actions. What Jack had said was true, Robin was never the type to be so serious, other than in cases of say, a death or something like that. But this? She’d be sure to bring it up tomorrow, but just thinking about the next day had her stressed out.

Instead, Signe let herself simply talk to Jack about the small things, content to simply hang out with one of her best friends for a little while. Sooner or later, the sun began to drop in the sky and Jack sat up, brushing off crumbs from his shirt hastily.

“Ah! I should go, it’s late.” He said. There was no real rush, he’d been here longer in the past, but still, Signe understood his haste. She gave a rushed brush of her bed to try and clean it off a bit before handing Jack his bag, which she’d tossed with hers. As they walked down the stairs to the front door, Jack surprised her by turning around one last time. “About those girls...Charlotte and Jess. What was your plan?” He asked.

Signe just gave him a soft smile. “Don’t worry about it, that’s my problem. Just go home and get some sleep.” She said. Jack nodded and turned, waving a brief goodbye to Rikke before leaving, his shoulders looking significantly less tense than when he’d first arrived. Signe was glad.

She closed the door behind him and walked back up the stairs before collapsing on her bed in a tired heap. The day truly had been long, and she couldn’t wait to just sleep.

* * *

They followed somewhat closely behind the green haired boy as he walked to what they presumed was his home. How much he knew? They weren’t sure, but they were determined to find out. About to step out of the shadows, a crackling pulled them out of their thoughts, flinching back from the intercom in their ear.

“Don’t approach. I warned you already.” A rough voice said. They huffed out a sound of annoyance at the order and crossed their arms, watching as the green haired boy turned, a confused look on his face.

They knew he couldn’t see them, the shadows of the sidewalk working towards their favour, and the boy turned, muttering something unintelligible under his breath. The intercom crackled again and they briefly wondered why such a powerful organization couldn’t buy better quality equipment.

“You made noise. You could have almost been caught by acting so stupidly.” They rolled their eyes and upon making sure the boy they were tracking was out of earshot, muttered into the mic by their mouth, the words bitter and annoyed.

“Whatever, _Handler._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is!! Once again, sorry if Signe's part sucked, she'd so hard to write for! As for 'Rilke', it was a name I saw somewhere randomly that someone claimed was the name of Signe's sister, but I dunno how valid that information was. Regardless, it's what I put. But anyway, things are getting serious now, in both the romantic sense and the bigger plot. Can anyone tell who 'They' are? Ohh... I wonder....
> 
> Glossary: 
> 
> Class: The categories in which abilities are put into. They are labeled A-E.
> 
> Shift: A phenomenon in which a person’s ability changes.  
> \- Stressed Shift: A Shift caused by extreme stress. Typically, the individual remains  
> within the same Class.  
> \- Random Shift: A Shift caused by unknown circumstances. The individual’s Class  
> may change.
> 
> Double: An individual with two abilities.
> 
> Ranged Abilities: another sub classification for abilities.  
> \- High Range: an ability of wide variety, allowing its user to manipulate their ability  
> in a multitude of ways.  
> \- Mid Range: an ability of average variety, allowing its user to manipulate their  
> ability in several, but not many, ways.  
> \- Low Range: an ability with low variety, allowing it’s user to manipulate their  
> ability only in few ways.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I...literally have no excuse for why this is so fucking late and delayed. I'm just a lazy piece of shit, but hopefully one that you guys can forgive? Anyway, this monster of a chapter is /almost/ 10k, I didn't quite reach my goal, but hey, I got close enough. Hopefully it's good enough for you guys to forget that it's taken nearly three months... 
> 
> PLEASE ENJOY

Mark woke up to something poking him insistently in the cheek, and his first response was to try and bite whatever it was. With his eyes still closed, he turned his face in the direction of the offending object and opened his mouth, closing his teeth around it harshly. Upon opening his eyes, Mark was greeted by the sight of his brother looking at him with an annoyed expression. 

“You know, most people don’t randomly bite the person who’s trying to wake them up.” Thomas said, yanking his finger out of Mark’s mouth. He frowned at the wet skin and wiped it across the sheets that covered the bottom half of his brother’s body, and inspected the teeth marks. Mark sat up from his position on the bed and stretched, letting out a drawn out yawn. The sheets that had been wrapped around his body draped awkwardly around his waist, and he looked down at them with blurry eyes.

“Yeah, well, most people don’t wake me up before my alarm by poking me repeatedly in the cheek.” Mark countered, voice sleepy and quiet. He looked up to give his brother a pointed look, though the effect was lost due to the fact that he looked utterly exhausted with red-rimmed eyes.

Thomas huffed and crossed his arms as he turned away. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just hurry up and come downstairs. Amy’s already awake.” At that, the fatigue Mark felt began to un-fog up his mind and he rubbed heavily at his eyes.  _ Amy? _

Memories of the previous afternoon slowly began to filter in, and Mark let out a groan.  _ Fuck fuck fuck.  _ He recalled everything after a few moments of silence, and Thomas had already retreated out of his room, most likely already downstairs eating breakfast again. Mark thought about what had happened for a moment, trying to process the memories once more, but no matter how much he turned it around in his head, there was no way to convince himself that it had been a very long and dramatic dream. A heavy wave of embarrassment hit him, and he could feel his cheeks heat up in shame as he recalled just how... _ touchy _ he’d been with Amy. Dragging a hand roughly over his face, Mark sighed and stood up.

Moving into the hall between his room and the bathroom, he caught brief snippets of Amy’s thoughts, because she sure as hell wasn’t saying them out loud.

_ He’s fine, Amy! Just relax! If you start acting strange, Thomas is gonna question you, and you  _ know _ that man doesn’t let anything fly by him. _

Mark smiled briefly to himself before sighing once more. Seeing as how there was only one set of thoughts and he’d already seen Thomas, his mom had already left for work, leaving the three of them the only ones in the house. Mark was briefly relieved over the fact that Thomas had been born Immune. While it wasn’t necessarily  _ rare,  _ it wasn’t as common as being born with an ability. Those who were Immune were born without any sort of ability except that they were unable to be affected by anyone else’s. Class A, B, and D abilities held no effect on a person deemed Immune, and seeing as how Mark was now suddenly a telepath, adding on to his slew of problems, it meant that he was unable to read his brother’s thoughts. Not that he wanted to in the first place…

It meant that, for this morning at least, he’d only have to deal with Amy’s thoughts in his head, which wasn’t really all that bad. Mark assumed that maybe it had to do with the fact that he was so familiar with her, and thus her voice in his head wasn’t truly a disturbance, but rather, something that he was already used to.

He moved into the bathroom and quickly brushed his teeth and dragged a hand through his hair before grabbing his phone and glasses from the bedside table. Glancing at the time, he’d been woken up a half hour before his usual alarm, and he glared darkly at his phone. Mark wasn’t much for sleeping in, and he was quite honestly a morning person, but still...no one liked waking up before their alarm.

He grabbed a pair of maroon jeans that were hidden somewhere deep inside his drawers and pulled on a grey sweater over a plain white t-shirt before throwing on his shoes and walking down the stairs. The sight of Amy munching on some toast as she flicked through her phone greeted him, and he grinned at her when she looked up.

The expression on her face made it obvious that she had not expected him to be so...chipper, after what had happened yesterday, but her thoughts only cemented the fact.

_ He looks...surprisingly normal. I mean, wait– Mark, I– _

Her thoughts stuttered to a stop and Mark’s smile only widened. “Don’t worry about it,’ He said in a low voice, making sure Thomas wouldn’t be able to hear them from his seat in the living room. “Your thought are...comforting.”

Amy gave him a look, but he ignored it in favor of grabbing a plate of buttered toast for himself before taking a seat at the kitchen table across from her. “So...I know we kinda need to.... _ yunno _ , talk about yesterday, but I was thinking… Maybe we can do it where Thomas can’t be nosy and hear everything?” He asked her once he settled in. She looked at him for a few moments before nodding.

“Yeah, sounds good. Maybe we can head over to Ken’s place to grab some coffee. If we go early enough, we can avoid the morning rush, and you won’t be...overwhelmed. Or rather...do you want to go to class at all? After all, if it was too much for you yesterday, then ho–” Mark cut Amy off by reaching across the table and jamming a piece of toast into her mouth, making her eyes widen in surprise before they narrowed in annoyance. She huffed and pulled the toast out of her mouth, wiping away the butter that had managed to almost get everywhere.

_ You could of just told me to shut up or something _ . She thought, frowning at him. Mark just shrugged and moved on. It was all instinct, no thought.

“I have to go, Amy. If it,” He lowered his voice down and peeked over his shoulder before continuing, “continues to be too much, then I’ll go home early. But I have to at least  _ try.  _ And besides, after how I left Jack yesterday… I wanna talk to him.” He reasoned. Amy mulled it over in her head, ignoring the fact that Mark could hear everything, and when she made her decision, Mark was already standing up with a grin. “Great! Let’s go then. If we wanna beat the rush, we gotta be fast.”

With that, the two of them dropped their plates into the sink, ignoring Thomas’ yell of, “wash them before you leave!” and walked out the front door, backpacks swung over their shoulders.

\- - -

Mark ordered his usual, and with that came the obligatory teasing on Amy’s part. She ordered her own drink and Ken shot the two of them a smile from over the counter. “I don’t understand how you can drink that stuff. It’s like sugar milk and nothing else. I’m willing to bet it’s not the caffeine that keeps you up all day, but the amount of syrup and sugar instead…” She said as she pulled out her wallet to pay. Mark stuck his tongue out at her before covering her hands with his, pulling out his own cash instead. 

“Shut up and leave me alone, I quite like my sugar milk, thank you very much,” He said. “And put that away, you paid last time. This week is my treat.” Amy huffed at him but said nothing, instead putting away her wallet back into her bag.

The walk here had been a relatively quiet one, as the two had been happy enough to bask in silence. After the first minute or two of trying to shield her thoughts, Amy had managed to preoccupy her mind enough to not distract Mark, and the two had leisurely walked the short distance to Cinnamon Sin. Ken had been the one to greet them, which was to be expected. With his parents owning the shop, he worked more often than not, and with a free first period, he was able to come in later than most students. Cry was who they usually saw in the afternoons after class.

It didn’t take long for Ken to finish up with their drinks, and when he walked back over to the counter, he opened up with something they were expecting, but hoping wouldn’t be brought up.

“So...those rumours. I know it’s not good to listen to gossip, but...they’re not true, right?”  _ Ah shit, am I being insensitive? Dammit, Amy looks uncomfortable, and Mark...looks kinda sick. I wonder if he’s okay. _

Mark shook his head sharply, a little too fast. “No, no. Not at all. It’s...complicated, but I assure you, me and Amy are just friends. People tend to have active imaginations, it seems.” He rubbed the back of his head nervously and let out an awkward laugh, the epitome of suspicious behaviour. Thankfully, Ken gave no indication of finding Mark’s behaviour strange, and just nodded.

“Cool, cool,” He said, sliding the drinks over the table and taking the money from Mark’s hand. “I was just curious, ‘cause yesterday was…well. People love to talk.” At that, Amy laughed, nodding her head in agreement.

“Yeah...you have no idea.” The three of them chatted for a short while, having about an hour and a half before first period was due to start, but when other customers began to trickle in, and Amy noticed Mark flinching occasionally, they said their goodbyes, heading over to the school. It was a relatively short walk, but the two of them made sure to go slow, sipping at their drinks as they went. Mark relished in the straight sugar that shot through his veins. He had no idea what was wrong with pouring both sugar  _ and  _ creamer into his coffee. It made it taste  _ better _ .

About a block away from the building, Amy stopped Mark. He already knew what she was going to say, but giving her the privacy to speak her mind, he didn’t answer immediately. “Mark...are you  _ really _ sure you want to go in today? I know you said you wanted to talk to Jack, but after what happened yesterday, I don’t want you to overwork yourself. You’re not sure just how...how strong this  _ ability _ is, and it can be dangerous if you can’t control it yet. I don’t want you to get hurt. Or worse,  _ caught _ .”

Mark let out a sigh and smiled at his best friend warmly. “You worry too much, Amy. And, I mean, if I don’t just force myself to go out and live normally, then how am I supposed to ever learn how to get used to it? What’s better than just throwing myself into the fire?” Amy pouted at him and he laughed. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. But seriously, I’ll be okay. I just...I have to do this, okay? Just trust me. That’s all I ask. And here, if it really gets to be too much, I’ll go home, I promise. That good enough for you?”

Any didn’t look pleased, but the sigh she let out had Mark cheering for his victory. He almost flinched a little when she smacked him at the back of his head, but when she smiled at him, he smiled back. “So...how do you plan on talking to Jack?” She asked after a few moments of comfortable silence. Mark bit down on his straw in contemplation and shrugged.

“I’m...not entirely sure, really. I mean, I can’t tell him the truth, that’s an automatic way to get him to think I’m absolutely insane, which means I’ll be forced to lie, and Amy, you know I  _ hate  _ that. Not telling you about the...the  _ second thing _ for so long was honestly one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, and now it’s worse. But I have to lie, and I have to make it convincing. Amy, if he asks me what I meant when I said I liked him  _ too _ , what do I do?” There was a growing panic in his chest, and as they reached the front of the school, Amy placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, pulling him so that they were facing each other.

“Don’t overthink it. And besides, if that happens, tell him...that it was a slip of the tongue.” Mark frowned at her. Normally, Amy was a master at advice, being the one who would lead him away from all his potentially stupid choices, but Mark just couldn’t agree with her this time.

“A  _ slip of the tongue? _ But then he’ll...he’ll think that I’m playing games with him! And then he’ll hate me!  _ Again! _ ” Amy shook her head and Mark could hear her calling him an idiot. He frowned, offended.

“Not like that, I mean the  _ too _ part. I don’t know… Just say that...you got a feeling, and it slipped out. And also, he never hated you in the first place. It was a misunderstanding, remember?” Mark wanted to sulk, but he realized that Amy’s words were pretty solid advice, even as much as he wanted to deny it. He huffed into his drink and flicked Amy’s straw before she could take a sip of her own when she called him a child in her head.

Amy gave him a look. “Oh boy...that’s gonna get  _ really _ annoying.” She grumbled. Mark just grinned.

“You love me.” He said, cheekily. She just let out an exasperated breath, grumbling too low under her breath for Mark to hear, and turned away, walking towards the front entrance of the high school. Mark was forced to jog over to catch up, and the two slid into the building easily.

There weren’t many students around, being as early as it was, which made the thoughts in his head not so overwhelming, and simply just a little...annoying. Walking through the halls, he was a bit surprised to spot into Bob and Wade, the two of them leaning against the wall near Bob’s locker. “I’m  _ telling you, _ what kind of name is  _ Avidan? _ It’s like...basically his first name!” Wade’s voice was argumentative, and Mark raised an eyebrow in Amy’s direction.  _ No clue.  _ She told him.

“Wade, his first name isn’t even Dan. It’s Leigh, not that he really tells people that. And who are you to judge? Yours is  _ Barnes _ . That’s like...ten times worse.” Wade scoffed and crossed his hands over his chest in an overly offended manner, making obvious that he wasn’t actually upset. Not that Mark wasn’t already aware. He’d been friends with Wade for long enough, and didn’t need to be an empath like Bob to know when he was actually hurt.

He stepped in and slapped a hand over both of their shoulders, smiling cheerily. “Good morning, good morning. What’s prompted such an early morning debate?” Mark watched as Wade nearly jumped out of his skin, but all Bob did was turn and look at him, returning his smile.

“Hmm, morning Mark,” He turned to spot Amy. “Morning, Amy.” She waved at him, taking a long sip of her drink. “And it’s nothing. Wade was just complaining about how Mr Avidan’s name is his dad’s name and his own name combined, and he finds it strange.”  _ The idiot _ .

Mark flinched slightly at the ending part, but just nodded his head. “His dad’s name isn’t  _ Avi,  _ it means ‘father’,” Amy supplied. She casted a glance at Mark, and seeing the discomfort on his face, frowned.  _ You good?  _ He kind of wanted to laugh. Count of Amy to be able to turn this strange new ‘gift’ into a way to check up on him. He gave a subtle nod, just as Wade let out a distressed noise.

_ That’s even–  _ “That’s even more strange! Then it’s basically ‘Dan ‘Father-Dan’.” He argued. Mark rolled his eyes and watched as Bob did the same. Amy just let out an amused chuckle.

“Yeah, whatever. It’s not that big of a deal, Wade. You’re stressing over nothi–” Mark stopped talking abruptly as pain shot through his skull. Glancing around, he watched as a crowd of student flooded the hall, a large pack of friend all chattering over each other and they headed in whatever direction they were going. Mark was used to loud halls, it came with being a high school student, but what he was not used to was the noise of their  _ thoughts.  _ It felt as though there were fifty different people talking all at the same time in a claustrophobic room, leaving him unable to think for himself or hear his own thoughts. The feeling was nauseating, and Mark felt like he was on the verge of passing out.

He clutched the bridge of his nose, knowing that his friends were looking at him in concern, but because all the  _ noise,  _ he couldn’t hear them at all. Mark let out an awkward laugh, hoping it was the right context, and waved them off. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Just a headache in all.”

Bob and Wade gave him curious, but concerned looks, while Amy just looked worried. Mark could already hear the ‘ _ I-told-you-so’  _ coming his way, even though he couldn’t, well, he couldn’t hear  _ anything,  _ not even his own voice as he tried to pretend he was fine. Mark hoped it sounded okay, that it wasn’t too shaky. He closed his eyes briefly, and only opened them again when the stinging pain in his head began to finally retreat, due to the next left the group of friends made, walking down a different part of the hall. Mark could still hear them, but it was subdued. Manageable.

“Dude, are you...are you good?” Bob asked finally. It was just the three of them, and their gentle thoughts. Mark wondered if he was so comfortable with them, due to having been around them for so long. He figured it had to be true. Before he could answer, Amy was grabbing him by the shoulders and tugging him in the opposite direction.

“He’s fine, he’s fine. A bad night, I suppose. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him. You guys just… We’ll see you later!” With that, Mark let himself be pushed into a secluded hall, the rooms down this way not normally used in the mornings. Amy turned and gave him a stern look.

Mark tried to open his mouth, but before he could, Amy was already talking. “You’re going home. _ Now. _ ” Mark briefly wondered what type of mom his best friend would be, but quickly brushed the series of images from his mind. That was  _ not _ something he wanted to think of right now. They were  _ eighteen.  _ Well, Mark was. Amy was seventeen.

He frowned. Mark knew where her concern was coming from. Afterall, what just happened? He wasn’t looking forward to a repeat performance, not when he had an entire day ahead of him stuck in classrooms with even more people than who’d walked by. He shook his head.  

“Amy, I  _ can’t _ . I–”

“No, you idiot. Listen to me. If that happens again, if what happened yesterday  _ happens again,  _ I won’t be there to help you, dammit. And I can’t deal with that.” Amy’s voice was firm, but Mark could hear it begin to waiver at the end, just a small bit. Her mind was a mess of...not thoughts, but emotions and images. He never thought that telepaths were also capable of this…

Mark thought for a moment, not sure how to convince Amy to let him stay, but before he could speak, she sighed. “You’re a stubborn asshole, you know that? Even when it puts you yourself in trouble, you’ll do it anyway. I don’t even know why I try sometimes…” Mark was stunned for a moment, before a grin took over his face. Reaching forward, he pulled Amy into a tight hug, feeling her startle briefly before relaxing into the gesture.

“I promise I’ll get through it,” He said. Amy’s response was just a mumble into her fist.

With that, the two separated. It was nearing time for their first class to start, and Amy still had to get to her locker, so the two parted, Amy giving Mark one last look of warning. With her gone, he breathed in deeply and let it all out, steeling himself for what was to come. It wasn’t all that hard to find Bob and Wade again, and when he did, Mark just waved off their looks of concern, as well as the mumbled thoughts in their heads. With the halls steadily filling with more people headed to class, he braced himself for whatever wave was to come inevitably. As they walked down the hall to their first period class, Mark caught the sound of a familiar voice. Saying  _ his _ name.

_ -’s fine, Sean. Just look at him normally when you see him and smile. Whatever Mark said yesterday, you can just assume it’s a slip of the to- _

Mark turned in the direction of where  _ Jack’s _ voice was coming from, and nearly jumped out of his skin. Jack was talking to Signe, which wasn’t really out of the norm. The same way he and Amy were always attached at the hip, Signe never seemed to be too far from the irishman, despite the one year gap between the two of them. No, what was so strange, was the fact that the two of them were talking about  _ him _ . Mark was too far to hear exactly what they were saying, but from Jack and Signe’s thoughts, and what snippets he could hear audibly, it was obvious that he was the subject of choice.

It seemed as though Mark’s strange behavior had finally reached a breaking point with Bob, and after motioning for Wade to continue on without them, he tugged Mark towards the wall of lockers. “Okay, no bullshit. What the hell is up with you today? You keep jumping, like something it scaring you, and you looked like you were about to pass out just a few minutes ago? Don’t give me that bullshit ‘ _ I’m fine _ ’ excuse, ‘cause you know...it’s  _ bullshit _ .”

Bob’s face made it obvious that he wasn’t going to let this go. Mark mentally warred with himself. He could...he could  _ tell  _ him. That was a possibility. Despite being closer to Amy, Mark had known Bob and Wade longer.

“It’s just…” He paused. “A headache. I was practicing with my fire yesterday, and I guess I went at it too hard. So...I’m a bit oversensitive. Plus, with the entire rumour thing, I keep thinking people are still talking about it behind my back. That’s all, nothing serious.” Mark lied through the skin of his teeth, and prayed to whatever higher power that existed, that Bob believed him. They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, before Bob sighed and nodded his head.

“Okay, man. Just, take it easy, right?” Mark nodded and resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief. The warning bell rang just as they crossed the threshold into their first period class, and Mark slid into his seat, resting his head on his desk.

Everything was noisy. Coupled with the conversations happening out  _ loud _ , Mark was dealing with everyone’s inner thoughts, and he wondered if he’d actually made the right choice. For some reason, however, it didn’t...hurt. Sure, the intrusion was still annoying, and Mark wished everybody would just  _ shut the fuck up,  _ but...he couldn’t feel any headaches gearing up. Briefly, he wondered if he was getting used to the ability… After a good ten minutes went by, Mark figured he was dead wrong. It was just a delayed effect.

_ God, I hate this shit, I should just drop out. Hmm, I wonder if Erica is free tonight. OH SHIT, A NEW CHAPTER OF BNHA IS OUT TODAY. Mumblemumblemumblemumble– _

At some point, the noise just jumbled together, to the point that he felt like his head was going to burst, and he let out a rather loud groan, catching the attention of his teacher, who paused in the middle of an explanation.

“Mark? Is there something wrong?” She asked. Mark looked up with wide eyes, mentally chastising himself for drawing attention.

“Ah, no. Um, I’m gonna go to the nurses office, sorry, excuse me.” Without waiting for a response, Mark grabbed his bag, that had slid off the back of his chair and onto the floor at some point, and all but ran out of the room, leaving everyone else to stare in silence, confused and bewildered.

Mark...did not go to the nurse. Instead, he headed to the most cliche place anyone would assume, and burst into the boy’s bathroom on the third floor, usually the most vacant, due to no one wanted to climb all those stairs to get there in the first place. It also made it the cleanest one, and Mark was thankful for that as he sat himself down on one of the covered toilet seats inside of a stall. He’d made sure to shut the door behind him, and now, blissfully alone, and basking in the silence, Mark let his head fall into his hands and let out a long, relieved breath.

\- - -

It took him a half hour to calm himself down, for the pain to finally subside completely. In a way, Mark knew he should have expected this. Afterall, he’d gone in, guns blazing, and he was bound to get hit a few times for his recklessness. He hadn’t moved from his spot during the entire thirty minutes he’d sat there, content to just let the waves of silence wash over him in gentle rolls, and by the time he was finally ready to go again, Mark didn’t want to get up. It meant giving up his peace of mind, and that was something he was not quite willing to hand over. Not again. 

Pulling his hands away from his face, he flinched at the bright fluorescent lighting of the boy’s bathroom, and narrowed his eyes, reaching into his bag to grab his phone. As he assumed there would be, he had three missed messages from Bob and Wade each, and about fifteen from Amy. Mark figured that one of them had alerted her, and he was both annoyed and touched at the same time. He had such good friends…

It had been enough time, and he figured that waiting any longer would just make them even more concerned, so Mark stood, sliding his phone into his back pocket, and swung his bag over his shoulder, pushing open the stall door to leave, only to come face to face with Robin Torkar, leaning against the sink, facing him, with narrowed blue eyes.

Mark almost screamed.

Actually, Mark did scream, but when Amy asks him what happens later, he’ll deny is with his entire soul.

If anything, it was a yelp more than a scream. Still, Mark could feel the flush of embarrassment redden his cheeks.  _ Has he...has he been there the entire time? How long… how did I not hear him? His thoughts? _

Mark was beyond confused, but instead of embarrassing himself any further, he adjusted his bag on his shoulder and smiled awkwardly as the swedish boy in front of him. “Ah...Robin, right? Nice...seeing you. Here. In the boy’s...bathroom.” Mark wanted to slam his head into any available solid surface. Repeatedly. He’d always been awkward, but this was just a new level called  _ stupid _ .

Robin’s expression didn’t even twitch, and Mark suddenly felt very uncomfortable. “We need to talk.” Was all he said. Mark looked at him dumbly.

“Talk? About wh–”

“How do you feel about Jack?” Mark had heard about people getting whiplash before, but he’d never truly experienced it for himself. At least, not until today. His expression didn’t change much, but at least this time, he managed to get his mouth to move.

“Excuse me?” He asked. He was beyond confused. Was Robin...doing the whole ‘hurt him and I’ll kill you’ shtick? ‘Cause if so, it was a little too early for that. Afterall, Mark and Jack weren’t even dating… Mark managed to fix his face, removing the slack-jawed look he was sure he had going on, and stood up straighter.

“I asked, how do you feel about Jack? And make sure not to lie. I’ll be able to tell.” Robin gave him an even look, his blue eyes, not as bright at Jack’s, but holding a threatening edge to them. Mark couldn’t tell what he was thinking at all, and it was weird. There was absolute radio silence, and for a moment, Mark wondered if Robin was even thinking at all.

He frowned, suddenly growing annoyed. “I’m sorry, but that’s...that’s none of your business. I don’t know why you decided to corner me in the bathroom, or how you even knew I was in here, but–”

A sharp glare had Mark shutting him, and he took a short step back as Robin uncrossed his arms. “He’s one of my best friends, so of course it’s my business. If you’re just acting casually to get his attention, then I need you to stop now before it goes too far.” His tone was threatening, and Mark had to resist the urge to swallow the discomfort rising up in his throat. He wanted to argue, tell Robin that he was being unfair, but Mark reasoned that it would do nothing to help, and instead, just aggravate the situation. So, he told the truth instead.

“I like him. A lot. And for a long time. I...I don’t plan on doing anything to hurt him,” Mark missed as Robin rolled his eyes in a way that made it seem like he knew more than he was letting on, “and I just…” He stopped there, not sure how to finish. It didn’t matter anyway. Robin dropped the tension in his shoulder and let out a long sigh, running his hands through his hair.

“That’s...good. Just, be careful. I don’t want you getting Jack into trouble, got it?” Mark was confused, but he nodded his head anyway, watching as Robin gave a last look of approval and walked out of the bathroom, leaving him by himself to question everything that had just happened.

_ Did I just get  _ The Talk _ without actually dating anyone? Was I just threatened? Why is this happening? Why couldn’t I hear his  _ thoughts _? _

* * *

Jack woke up to the shrill sound of his alarm with a throbbing headache and thought about the possibility of faking being sick to get out of going to school. It wouldn’t have been the first time he tried. The first week after moving from Ireland to the states, he hadn’t made friends yet, and Signe was a year younger, making it impossible to talk to her during class. In an attempt to avoid embarrassment of being the ‘new kid’, Jack had faked a cough the next morning, only for his mother to nearly toss him out of the bed and demand that he get dressed.

Jack quickly scrapped the idea and rolled out from under his sheets, pressing his fingers firmly onto either side of the bridge of his nose to stave off the pain in his head. It worked, but only until he moved his hands away to push himself up into a sitting position. He didn’t even know why he felt so shitty, until he recalled what had happened the night before, aka, the lack of sleep at the expense of going over the ‘I like you, too’ from Mark and the possessed need to look up Doubles and Shifts, anything that could explain exactly what had happened the previous day.

By the time Jack was aware of the time, it was already half passed three, and his alarm was set to go off at six, giving him only two and half hours of any type of sleep. Except it wasn’t that simple, because of  _ course _ it was interrupted by plenty of tossing and turning throughout the night. Jack couldn’t catch a break, but regardless, he forced himself to move. He had…a lot to do today, despite not knowing where to even start.

In the bathroom, he grabbed his toothbrush and covered it in toothpaste before giving himself a once over in the mirror as he stuck it into his mouth harshly. He clearly looked as though he’d gotten less than enough sleep, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, contrasting rather vividly against his paler than normal skin. He looked sick, but that was what happened when you decided to go to bed at an ungodly time. He sighed and brushed his teeth quickly but thoroughly. For a moment, he considered forgoing a shower, but it would probably help wake him up, so he took a brief one before getting dressed.

The entire time, Jack considered possible game plans. Signe had already promised to help him deal with whatever was going on with Robin, so in a way, that was already dealt with (although, Jack couldn’t help but worry about  _ how _ exactly they were going to approach him with the topic). Then, there was the whole... _ Mark _ thing, which, he was quite frankly tired of worrying about, but couldn’t stop himself. 

From what he’d seen during his impromptu research session the previous night, Doubles were  _ incredibly  _ rare, something he’d already been vaguely aware of, but he never knew the exact statistics. Not only that, but they tended to...disappear. The public would be briefly notified that one had been ‘found’ and taken into protective custody, their identity concealed as a preventative measure, and then….they’d never be heard of again. Their existence would just vanish.

It had been worrying news, and Jack figured that the reason the public wasn’t as torn up about this was the fact that it happened so rarely. He could only find two or three accounts of this happening in the past. At some point, he wondered about the possibility that those who found out they were Doubles hid themselves in order to protect themselves. He knew if he was in the same boat, there was no way he’d let anyone know. It was...scary. The idea of waking up and being taken away, never to...to be able to walk freely again, due to  _ government protection.  _

Once he’d been scared to death by those search results, Jack had moved on to looking up Shifts. There was more information on that, and they were also quite rare, but not even close to the rarity of Doubles. As Signe had explained the previous night, there were two types, Random and Stressed, with the latter being more common. There was no one solid reason as to why Random Shifts occurred, which was the reason for its name. In his ‘researching’ (Googling), Jack figured that it was the most likely option as to how Mark could suddenly read thoughts, if that was what had even happened in the first place.

And that was the thing… Jack wasn’t even  _ sure _ if Mark had read his thoughts. Another possibility was that it was just a sort of... _ huge _ coincidence, and that maybe...maybe Mark was just really good at reading body language and facial expressions, and he let it slip and rushed out. Some part of Jack was aware that...the idea was ridiculous. What sort of facial expression read as ‘I like you!’ and what kind of person would respond back to it the way Mark had? 

At this point, Jack had finally realized the time and threw his phone over to the other side of his bed, groaning loudly before burying himself into his sheets, trying to fall asleep. And now...here he was, pulling a shirt over his head with weak arms before grabbing his things and heading down the stairs to at least try and force some food into his mouth. Both his parent were gone for work, leaving him the only one in the house. It was a pretty frequent occurrence, seeing as how all of his siblings were older and had already moved out. 

He spotted an apple and took three bites in quick succession before throwing it out and chewing harshly as he swung his bag over his shoulder and locked the door behind him as he left. The walk to school wasn’t all that long, which Jack was grateful for, because the longer he was alone with his own thoughts, the more he could feel his sanity slowly slipping from his grasp. As he reached the gate, he nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand landed on his shoulder. 

“Wow, jumpy this morning, are we? And....excuse my language, but you look like  _ shit _ .” Jack turned and gave a less than reassuring smile. She grimaced and he instantly felt terrible. “You okay, Sean? Man, I had no idea all of this would tear you up so badly.” She said. 

Jack let out a heavy sigh and hung his head slightly. He was  _ exhausted,  _ and the day hadn’t even fully started yet. “Good morning to you too, Woosh.” He said, voice breathy and tired. “And I’m...fine. Or at least, I will be, once this day is over. I just didn’t get enough sleep is all.” He told her. Signe had that look on her face, the one that showed she was worried, but Jack was quick to stop her from asking anything else. 

He grasped her shoulder in his hand and pulled her to walk alongside him as they headed into the building, walking through the lobby. It was early enough that not many people were here yet, Jack’s favorite time. There were still some students wandering the halls, but not enough to be substantial. It would get a lot worse later, with kids practically throwing things down halls at each other. In the past, Jack had managed to narrowly avoid two footballs, but the paint that one time had dripped down his shirt and into his pants. His underwear was still stained a sickly purple colour, and he had never found the culprit. 

At this time, however, it was easy to walk through the school leisurely without the usual bustle. Slowly, they made their way to Signe’s locker where she started to switch out her books. 

“I assume it has to do with what we talked about yesterday,” She said, holding a history textbook in one hand and her physics packet in the other. Jack gave her look, and she smiled softly. “I already told you, we’d deal with it together, both the Mark thing  _ and _ Robin’s weird behavior. You stress yourself out so much, sometimes…” 

Jack flushed guiltily. It was the truth. He had a habit of overthinking things to the point of losing sleep. Thankfully, he rarely ever got this bad, but when it did happen, well...the darkness under his eyes were telling enough. He rubbed at the nape of his neck and sighed. “I know, I know. I can’t help it. It’s like...an obsessive  _ need _ . I don’t know how to stop.”

Signe gave him a concerned look, and he shot her a reassuring smile. “I appreciate your help with the whole Robin thing later, but I can’t...stop obsessing over Mark’s words. Signe, trust me, I’ve  _ tried.  _ I was gonna play video games last night after getting back home to try and take my mind off of it, but every second, I could just hear him again, and oh my god, it nearly drove me crazy.” He took a deep breath and laid his head on the cool metal of Signe’s locker door after she closed it. His mind was swimming with thoughts, and he could only force his feet to move as Signe gently tugged on his arm, leading him to his own locker. 

There was no real reason to be there, seeing as how Jack tended to always keep his more important books on him at all times, but for the sake of routine, he put his code into the lock and pulled it open. A few mini posters hung near the back, bands that he listened to, as well as a few drawings Robin had done of him when he’d first started getting into his art. His locker wasn’t...clean, but it was nowhere the mess of Robin’s. His was a more organized sort of chaos. 

“I know you’re worried, but it’ll be fine. Robin’s probably just going through a bit of something. I doubt it’s as big of a deal as we’re making it out to be, and even if it is, we’re his friends, so we have to show our support. With Mark...you just have to talk to him, and,” Jack gave her a look, but she glared at him, shutting him up. “I’m  _ aware _ that it’s easier said than done, but you’ll do it, because you can. And...you have to. Sean , I know you. If you don’t do it, it’ll just tear you up even more.” 

Jack wanted to disagree, to claim that he’d gone an entire year thinking Mark hated him, and he was (mostly)  _ fine, _ but he knew it was a blatant lie. His mind was a mess of nerves, 

_ It’s fine, Sean. Just look at him normally when you see him and smile. Whatever Mark said yesterday, you can assume it’s a slip of the tongue, and yunno...just move past it. Ask him what he meant so that you don’t die of curiosity. Maybe...maybe it’ll lead to something. Think of the possibilities, Sean! _

but the gentle weight of Signe’s hand on his shoulder managed to at least anchor him down, back to reality. His thoughts quieted. 

“You’re right. I’ll...I’ll figure it out. I have until this afternoon after all, right?” Signe smiled brightly at him. “But that’s enough about me. You got away without giving me any details on your plan for Amy’s...problem yesterday. Got anything good up your sleeves?” The smile dropped from Signe’s face and she looked slightly embarrassed, prompting a teasing smile from Jack. It felt good not to focus on himself now.

“I told you already. I have...a plan. I mean, there’s a high chance of it either not working at all, or just completely backfiring on me, but...I have to try. I’m the same as you in that regard. Doing nothing would make me feel worse, and I can’t...let her get away with what she did.” Jack was aware that Signe had never really been the confrontational type. She didn’t like unnecessary fighting or arguments, which meant that she was feeling rather strongly about Amy and the situation, enough to push her to actually act. They were both in deep, and he couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad thing. 

Feeling better, Jack swung his arm over her shoulders. “You got this. That girl won’t even know what hit her. But...what do you even plan on doing exa–”

The shrill sound of the warning bell rang over the speakers and Jack nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn’t even noticed how fast time had flown by or what time it was now. Students had begun to fill the halls in droves, talking over each other as they either headed towards their lockers or classrooms. 

Signe slipped out from under his arm and walked slightly ahead of him before turning to look over her shoulder. “You’ll have to find out later.” She said and disappeared into the mass of students, leaving Jack to stare after her, blinking rapidly with a blank look. Once he regained his wits, he laughed briefly under his breath before it shifted into a drawn out yawn. 

“Guess I better get to my own class now…” Despite his anxieties quieting down, heading towards his first period class still a bit awkward. Robin would be there, and Jack planned on having this not till the afternoon, so just acting normal when he had something like that planned… He prayed to whatever higher being existed that he’d be able to get through the day without landing himself in a mess. 

As he stepped into the classroom, a hand clapped him on his shoulder, and he nearly fell forward in shock. “Morning, Jackie!” A familiar and cheery tone came from behind him, and when he turned, he was faced with blue eyes and a wide smile. Jack felt like a liar when he smiled back. 

“G’morning, Robin.” He said. A concerned look crossed Robin’s face as he gave Jack a once over. 

“You kinda look–”

“Like shit? Yeah, Signe already gave me the rundown. I just...didn’t get enough sleep is all. Happens sometimes.” Robin looked like he wanted to push more but he stopped himself. The two do them made their way to their seats near the back of the classroom. Mr Walsh was the type of teacher who let his students sit where they wanted as long as they didn’t let it distract them during class. He was one of Jack’s favorite teachers, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was also Irish and named Jack, though...his name was  _ actually  _ Jack. 

Seated, Robin swung his chair around to face Jack’s direction. “You sure you’re okay? You kinda look like you saw a ghost or something. Does this have anything to do with...what we talked about yesterday?” The casual air was gone, but Jack was quick to notice that it wasn’t as stifling as the serious attitude Robin had on the phone the previous day. Some part of him began to assume that he was just making a big thing out of nothing, and maybe....Robin was just having a bad day. 

Regardless, he wanted to talk about it, because if that was the case, he wanted to know  _ why _ . Jack was a good friend after all. 

“Somewhat,” He confessed. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind, lately. It’s nothing to worry about. I just need to get some more sleep today.” Robin nodded slowly before he smiled softly at him again. 

“When you’re this quiet, it’s weird. I’m so used to you being a lot more loud and bombastic. Make sure to sleep, alright? I miss the normal Jack.” He joked. Jack cracked his own smile just as Walsh walked in, sunglasses over his eyes and a look on his face that made it obvious today would be a group study day. A quiet one. 

\- - - 

It was only halfway through the period when Jack’s worries started to arise again. For most of the class time, students had been divided into groups depending on proximity and told to go over notes for an upcoming test that Jack was sure he’d at least do semi-well on. He wasn’t the best student, but he didn’t make a habit out of failing exams either. He watched as Robin sat straighter in his seat all of sudden before pushing himself up. 

“Be right back.” Was all he said as he headed towards the front of the room and leaned down to talk to Walsh for a second. With a nod from the teacher, Robin headed out of the room and down the hall, towards where, Jack wasn’t sure. It had been...sudden, but with a sigh, Jack tried to force himself not to think too deeply about it. 

He was tired and quite frankly, he had enough to worry about. Robin heading to, most likely, the bathroom was not suspicious behavior, and he was just making things worse for himself. Sighing under his breath, Jack turned back to the book in front of him, flipping through his notes in hopes that some of the words would at least embed themselves into his head. 

His mind attempted to wander, a relatively bad habit he’d had since childhood that never seemed to quite go away, but focusing on the assignment in front of him managed to at least ground him long enough to blank out during Robin’s absence. It worked, for the most part, but not for long. 

Despite Jack’s best attempts, he couldn’t quite help but keep track of just how long his friend was away. It reached the point where Robin was gone for way too long for him to just be using the bathroom. Guys were fast, a total of maybe five minutes if they were trying to drag it out, but the time was quickly reaching ten minutes. Jack kept glancing from his phone screen to the door, to his book, and back. 

Closing his notebook, he turned his body to look up and face the door just as Robin finally returned. And…

He had that serious look on his face, the one that had most likely matched his tone during their call the previous day. Only in person, it was somewhat...chilling. Jack had never seen Robin act like this before. Sure, he got serious at times, a person can’t be happy and upbeat twenty-four/seven, but there was something about the set of his shoulders and the solid look in his eyes that made him look...tense, like he was maybe doing something that he didn’t want to do. 

As Robin took his seat, Jack thought briefly to himself.  _ Is he doing drugs? Is that what this is. Did he just meet his dealer? _ It was an inane thought, but Jack was currently taking a shot in the dark, and at this point, any theory was plausible. Robin gave him a brief smile as he closed his own notebook, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, almost like he was just trying to settle Jack before telling him something. 

_ Please don’t be drugs, please do– _

“Are you okay?” Jack asked. Robin looked like he wanted to laugh, which only concerned him even further. He was  _ worried _ . 

“I’m fine. Just… Jack, can I ask you something?” Bits of what Jack was starting to consider Robin’s ‘Serious Voice’ inflected his words, but he forced himself to nod and keep calm. Freaking out now in the middle of class would help literally no one, and whatever this was about would hopefully help to give him some sort of clue on what was bothering his friend. He was at a complete loss and anything helped. Robin sighed and looked like he was uncomfortable as he lowered his voice and asked, “How...do you feel about Mark.”

Jack opened his mouth only to close it without actually saying anything, feeling a bit dumbstruck. That’s what he wanted to ask…? The irrational part of Jack’s mind sort of took off.  _ What does this have to do with Mark. Wait, is Mark also doing drugs. Is Mark his dealer? Oh my god, what the fuck?! _

As a period of silence stretched on between them, it reached the point where it was almost like Robin could sense the storm of thoughts in Jack’s head and he quickly clarified. “I mean, Jack. Do you  _ really _ like him? Are you...are you sure that it’s not some sort of residual crush? Maybe you actually liked him last year, but now...is it the same?” Robin looked nervous, and normally, it would mean that Jack would rein in his temper, but with a build up of mental and physical exhaustion, all of his restraints were gone. He was suddenly mad that his friend was doubting his feelings.

“Robin...what the  _ fuck? _ Why would you...Why are you even asking me that?” He nearly stuttered. “How I feel about him? What even brought this on? Why is it important all of a sudden?” When Jack had first told Robin about his crush on Mark, the other boy had been fully supportive. What had changed?

A brief looked of regret crossed Robin’s face, but Jack could see the resolve harden in his eyes. Leaning across the divide between the two of them, he placed his hands on Jack’s desk. 

“Listen, Jackie. I don’t mean to be offensive. You know me, but… Being with him could be  _ dangerous _ .” That part quickly caught Jack’s attention. Once again, the drug dealer theory was suddenly starting to gain even more traction. 

His eyes widened as he took in Robin’s expression, and he was whispering his thoughts before his brain could even filter the words coming out of his mouth. “Is he...dealing drugs.” There was a long period of silence between the two of them, other than the quiet murmuring about the rest of the room where groups were working together. Robin’s face was blank and void of any expression, and Jack could feel his cheeks heating the longer the time went on. He suddenly felt very stupid, and what happened next only made him feel even worse.

Robin let out a loud laugh, doubling over in his seat and he clutched his stomach and accidentally pushed his book off his desk. The laugh was raucous, and drew the attention of everyone in the room, including Mr Walsh who pulled his sunglasses off and glared in their direction. 

“Mr Torkar, Mr McLoughlin. Would the two of you like to be separated?” It was an empty threat, Walsh wouldn’t really do anything if it seemed like too much trouble to him, but as a teacher, Jack supposed he needed to at least keep up appearances. For the sake of being respectful, Robin stopped his laughing suddenly and sat up straight in his seat as he joined Jack in shaking his head. 

“No, sir.” They said in unison. Walsh just made a sound that they assumed meant ‘good’, before placing his glasses back on. He resumed...whatever it was that he had been doing, and Jack breathed a sigh of relief. 

With that done, Robin turned back to look at him. “So, I’ll take your reaction as a decisive  _ no _ then.” Jack said. He was flushed with embarrassment and he felt utterly ridiculous, but Robin just gave him a brief but easy smile. 

“That wasn’t where I was going, no.” He agreed, and Jack just let out a muffled groan as he set his head down against his desk. He was tired. It wasn’t even the end of first period yet, and he just wanted to fast-forward through the day and be home already. All the stress from earlier wasn’t quite coming back, but the added weight of embarrassment was making things worse for him. This was too much. “Jack. I’m just...I just wanted to talk to you about this. Because some things are going on. And I don’t want you to get hurt. Who knows what type of person Mark really is, right?”

Jack raised his head and sighed before giving his friend an even look and sighed under his breath. If he knew today was gonna force him to confess some long denied emotions, he would have really tried to feign sickness when he’d woken up. Even his mother’s nagging on him missing school would be better than this.  _ Much  _ better. 

“I don’t know what you’re worried about, Robin. I’ve...liked him for a while. Sure, I realized it during last year when I was in the same class as him, but it wasn’t like that was the start of it. He was always nice, and as much as he may not think he’s popular, he’s well liked by a lot of people. I was kinda drawn to that. I don’t know why you say he’s dangerous, but I  _ really _ like him, Robin. A lot.” 

A look of contemplation crossed his friend’s face but Jack waited patiently for his reaction. Finally, after moments of silence, Robin sighed, scrubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “Fine. I just wanted to ask to make sure. I care about you, Jack. You and Signe are my closest friends, and I don’t want you to get into any sort of trouble, so… Just promise me this. If you get involved with Mark, just be careful, okay?”

Jack wasn’t so sure what he had to be careful about exactly, but he just nodded his head. Robin looked relieved and settled into his seat as he slipping phone out of his pocket and texted someone. 

For the rest of the period, the two sat in silence with only the sound of fellow students around them murmuring about either the assignment or gossip before the bell finally rang. When Jack stood up, Robin slipped out of the room without him and with no sort of goodbye. He was just up and out. Jack bit his bottom lip and pulled out his phone, finding Signe’s number quickly. 

> [J]: That thing we planned about Robin? We definitely need to do it. I think something’s stressing him out, and I’m...concerned. 

His phone dinged before he even had a chance to put it back away as he stepped out into the hall full of bustling teenagers. Signe was always there when he needed her, and Jack truly appreciated that about her.

> [S]: Don’t worry. We got this.

He smiled. He really hoped they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's currently 11:29 pm as I write this, and that's not even that late, but I'm currently sleep deprived, so if the format of this was shit....I'm sorry. I'm so fuckin tired. 
> 
> (I had some other shit to say, but once again, my mind is not working. Whoops, sorry. Maybe I'll remember for the next chapter, coming the summer of 2020)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY, ONCE AGAIN, SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. Also, again, I have no excuse. But listen!! My first year of college is over, and summer has begun, so hopefully now I have bit more time to dedicate to writing!!! I wouldn't actually count on that, but hey, Imma try my best. A few things: 1) this chapter...was a bit of a struggle. I'm honestly not the biggest fan of Signe's section, but I didn't know how to fix it to make it better, so it is as is, 2) slight trigger warning?? homophobic language is used in this chapter, so watch out for that...., and 3) I dunno, but I hate lists that only have two things. Anyway, moving on, I hope you like this and once again, sorry for the lateness...

Amy was worried, which was a bit of an...understatement. Despite knowing Mark for what felt like much longer than it actually was, she’d grown quite an attachment to him. The two of them were close, and sometimes...a little _too_ close, if what was currently happening with the rumours spreading around the school were anything to go by. But regardless, Amy couldn’t help the insistant nagging at the back of her mind, forcing her to constantly glance down at her phone which was hiding on top of her lap.

She made a small sound of annoyance when she tapped the screen and saw nothing, only to realize she was being stupid. If there were no text notifications, then that meant he was _fine_ . Hoping for something to appear meant that she was hoping something was wrong, which was _not_ what she wanted. Still….Amy tapped her phone again, and nearly jumped when she heard Mr Hanson clear his throat.

Amy’s head shot up, but she was relieved to see that his attention wasn’t directed on her, but rather towards someone else in the back of the room. She let out a short sigh and forced herself to relax, listening to the attempts at jokes Mr Hanson made. Some of them were a shot in the dark, but others managed to garner a chuckle out of the class. Amy let her mind wander for a bit, and by the time twenty minutes had passed, she was feeling a lot better.

Until...Bob’s name popped up on her phone. That in and of itself wasn’t unfamiliar. Amy and Bob texted on a relatively daily basis, sending each other random cat pictures. What was weird was Bob texting her during _class_. There weren’t many rules that Bob chose to follow. For the most part, he tended to go at his own pace, and it worked out for him. But one rule he followed without fail was the ‘no phone use’ rule during class time, but now…

Grappling her phone, Amy punched in her passcode a total for four times before finally getting it correct. She flipped to her messages and read the text over and over.

> [B]: Slight concern...but Mark is acting weird. He ran out of class.

Amy jumped out of her seat once the words fully sunk in, shoving her phone into her pocket without bothering to text back. Mr Hanson raised an eyebrow at her, opening his mouth to either ask what was wrong or reprimand her, but Amy was already grabbing her bag, running to the door with a short “please excuse me!” thrown over her shoulder.

Once out in the hall, she yanked her phone back out of her pocket and pulled up Mark’s number, pressing the call button. Impatiently, she tapped her foot on the ground as she stalked down the hall, trying to catch at least some glimpse of him. The longer the phone rang with no answer, the more agitated she got. Amy was not the type of person to let anxieties get to her, but she could feel the growing flood of concern threaten to overtake her.

When the first call went to voicemail, she called again, walking even faster through the halls, glancing into empty classrooms hoping to spot Mark at least _somewhere_.

“Come on... _come on_ .” She muttered to herself under her breath. If anyone else were to spot her, she’d look like a crazy person; eyes widened, mouth moving with barely audible words, and a sharp edge to her walk. Amy let out a harsh sigh when the second call also went to voicemail. Despite knowing it was most likely useless, she called him _again_.

After three rings, she gave up on calling and opened up her messages once more, shooting out text after text, some worried and others straight up _pissed_.

> [A]: Where are you?? Are you okay??
> 
> [A]: ANSWER ME, DAMMIT
> 
> [A]: i just need to know that youre fine!!
> 
> [A]: MARK
> 
> [A]: Godddammitt!!!

At some point, they stopped being words and were just a mass of exclamation points and question marks. All of them went unanswered, the little _read_ sign at the bottom not popping up. Amy let out a small growl of frustration as she turned a corner, only to walk into a solid weight, much too soft to a wall, but not soft enough for her to not stumble backwards. Looking up from her phone, she blushed in embarrassment. She’d just walked _into_ someone, and upon further inspection, it was Robin, Signe and Jack’s friend.

“Shit! Sorry! I wasn’t paying attention…” She said hurriedly. In her confusion, Amy had dropped her phone and tried to reach for it. Robin happened to grab it first, handing it back with a friendly smile.

“No problem, all is good,” He said. “You in a rush?” Amy debated on whether or not to tell him that she was looking for Mark, but in her desperation to find her friend, she gave a mental ‘fuck it’ and nodded her head.

“Mark is...well, he’s not missing, but he rushed out of class and I’m trying to find him. He hasn’t been feeling well lately, and I’m worried.” Robin’s smile slipped from his face for a second, and Amy caught a look she couldn’t quite decipher before it was replaced by friendly concern.

She thought nothing of it, thinking it to be merely her imagination. “If you spot him anywhere...please. Let me know?” She asked. Robin nodded his head, and help out his hand, which Amy had no idea what to do with.

“Your phone,” He said. “I don’t have your number. How else would I contact you?” Amy flushed again and nodded, handing him her phone. She watched as he put his number in and sent himself a text so that he would be able to add hers in return before handing her phone back to her. Amy took it and gave a short goodbye as Robin turned and headed towards the boy’s bathroom. As she passed by the door, she watched through the small glass window as he leaned against the sinks, turning towards the stalls without actually...doing anything else. It was strange, but she didn’t dwell on it.

Instead, she continued to stalk through the halls, only to jump and hide between a dip in the lockers that lined to walls. The sound of metal plated shoes tapped their way down the hall in the opposite direction, and Amy let out a short breath of relief. Peeking out from her hiding place, she watched as a hall monitor walked the other way, his attention away from her.

She wasn’t entirely sure why she’d hidden in the first place. Hall monitors were students who were picked to keep order within the school when teachers weren’t able to. It wasn’t as hierarchical as it sounded, and plenty of the monitors were pretty chill students, but it all depended. In a school with a bunch of students learning how to control what could be considered _superpowers_ , they were pretty necessary. They tended to be students with Class A abilities and were the only ones not obligated to wear the bracelets other psychic ability students had to, to keep them from using their abilities in class.

A sudden thought crossed Amy’s mind and she nearly wanted to bang her head into a wall and cry out at her stu–

No, Amy wasn’t stupid, but she certainly _felt_ that way. With a heavy sigh, she glanced down at her phone once more, and noticed a message. Opening it, she was surprised to see that it was from Robin. _Already…?_

> [R]: I found him, there’s no need to worry. He said you should get back to class and he’ll find you later.

Reading it over a few times, Amy let out small sound of irritation, but overall, she was relieved. Even if she herself couldn’t be there to comfort Mark, at least _someone_ was there. She’d heard from Kia that Robin was a good guy, and in some way, she trusted him.

Amy fixed her bag over his shoulder and sent one more text to Mark, telling him that they’d be having a _talk_ during their shared class period. Slipping it back into her back pocket, she rubbed carefully at her face and walked back to her classroom. As she rounded the corner to the hallway, she saw…

Her heart jumped in her chest the second she caught sight of short, cool toned brunette hair. Amy had been shocked the day Signe had walked in with her long hair chopped short and styled into gentle waves. The change had been...a pleasant surprise. Something about it had changed her look entirely, and it had made the feelings in her chest grow just that much more.

But now...watching her stand with... _Charlotte_ , the girl who had been the one to taunt her the day before, to harass her in the halls before Mark had shown up…

There was a sharp pang in her chest, and Amy raised a hand up to press against it, in hopes of quelling the pain, but it worked to no avail. She watched in silence for a few moments, standing between a dip in the lockers, waiting for…. _something_. She wasn’t really sure what.

Things looked normal for a while. The way they were standing, Amy couldn’t quite make out either of their facial expressions, nor was she close enough to hear anything or read their lips. She felt lost, and a little angry, though she squashed that feeling as soon as it appeared. She had no right to feel angry, after all...she barely knew Signe, other than the things she’d learned about the other girl due to more-than crush.

Signe had no obligation to be on _her_ side, though Amy would have never assumed for her to be on _Charlotte’s_. She was friends with Jack, and the two of them were well-known for being the nicest people in school. They were of the semi-popular sort, due to both their personalities as well as the allure of something foreign. Jack’s Irish accent was attention grabber, as was Signe’s Danish accent when she let it slip.

But...watching this, Amy couldn’t help but feel as though something about this situation was off. The longer she watched, feeling every bit a creepy stalker, the more she could see the agitation grow in Charlotte’s stance. Signe’s own body looked tense, as though anchoring down for some sort of attack, and Amy felt herself moving before her mind could catch up to her body. She watched electricity crackled around Charlotte’s body and without hesitation, Amy grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back before stepping into the space between her and Signe, taking a defensive position.

Electric yellow eyes widened before they faded to a more neutral hazel and gold, narrowing in irritation from being interrupted. The three of them stood there for several seconds, Amy not really knowing what to say, nor really having anything to say in general. Her body felt wired, but she also felt pretty proud of herself for stepping in. A little bewildered by her own actions, she thought briefly that now _she_ should be a hall monitor, seeing as how none of those guys were actually around when it mattered.

Amy gave Charlotte an even look, but was confused when she saw a smirk grow on the other girl’s face, like she knew something that Amy didn’t. It was unsettling, and she watched in silence as Charlotte simply let out a small ‘hmm’ sound before resettling her bag and stalking off, leaving Amy to slowly turn around and face Signe, the two of them being the only ones left in the hall. _Awkward..._

* * *

Signe sighed heavily to herself when she managed to dodge her way out of Jack’s sight. It wasn’t as though she didn’t want to tell him anything about her plan. She just didn’t want him to know how stupid and reckless it was.

She made her way to class, fiddling nervously with a loose thread hanging off the sleeve of her shirt, tempted to pull at it, but knowing it would only turn into a ragged mess. When she finally entered the classroom, Signe was met with the sight of Charlotte glaring heavily at Amy from her seat, but the blonde was completely oblivious.

The irritation and anger Signe had felt previously towards the bully only reared its head again, and she suddenly had no problem with going through with what she’d thought up. Even if the plan was stupid, she’d make do.

Signe took her own seat which happened to be diagonal from Charlotte and set her bag onto her desk, pulling out a notebook that she used for the class. She was typically neat enough not to require a binder, keeping all of her paperwork in a subject folder. Peering over at Charlotte, she watched as the redheaded girl glared in the direction of Amy, where the blonde was seated, staring intensely at her phone with a look of worry on her face and a tense set to her body.

Signe could feel herself growing concerned. The only thing she could think of that could be bothering Amy was the whole rumor thing, and while it was sort of starting to die down now, there were still plenty of people whispering about it in the halls. She shook her mind out of that spiral of thoughts, knowing that her frustration over the situation would only grow the more she dwelled on it. Right now, she had a particular mission of sorts that she needed to concentrate on, no matter how much it frazzled her nerves. The bell signaling the beginning of first period rung, but Signe was too much in her thoughts to really be paying attention, something that truly wasn’t like her at all. Everything about this was causing her to act differently.

 _Wow, love really does change you….not th–, not that I’m in_ love _with her or anything._ Signe sighed silently to herself, dropping her head to graze against her notebook before picking it back up again and glancing around the room, attention falling back onto Amy and then Charlotte.

Despite having gone over it so many times, it felt different actually getting ready to _act_ on her plans. They steps were so simple, but so easy to mess up, and they could end with less than stellar results. First of all, Signe had to find a way to catch Charlotte’s attention in the first place, which….well. Signe had an idea, but she wasn’t so sure if it would work or not, which was basically how she felt about this plan as a whole. Next, she had to find a way to talk to her alone. Mr Hanson typically let two people out at a time, but if someone else left before them...it would mess everything up.

By the time she’d repeated the same thing to herself for what felt like the fiftieth time, Signe’s attention was redirected to Amy fiddling with her phone before shooting up from her seat and excusing herself from the room. The entirety of the class, including Signe, watched in confusion as Amy didn’t even wait for a response, disappearing quickly out the door and down the hall with her bag trailing after her.  

Signe felt the ever growing concern in the pit of her stomach almost skyrocket, and she wanted to follow, but realized….it offered the perfect opportunity. With Amy gone and out of the room, Signe could talk to Charlotte without the fear of being caught, without the fear of their interaction being taken in the wrong way. Signe was still worried about what had caused Amy to almost literally _jet_ out of the room, but she had to focus on one thing at a time.

She started on the first part of her plan: getting Charlotte’s attention. It wasn’t so much a difficult task, but Signe had to do it in a way that 1) didn’t draw the attention of Mr Hanson, and 2) wasn’t suspicious. She sighed under her breath and dragged a hand through her hair before glancing around her desk to see if there was anything she could use. Throwing a pen would _definitely_ not be a good way to go, no matter how much she wanted to see it bounce against annoyingly orange/red hair. She didn’t want to _aggravate_ Charlotte, or at least...not yet. _That_ part came later.

Growing frustrated with her waste of time, Signe ripped a piece of paper out of her notebook and scribbled across the page a note. It was juvenile and stupid, but there was a reason passing notes was such a universal thing. It was effective….to a point. She read over it carefully, checking her wording and spelling:

 

> _I know something about the Amy/Mark thing if you’re curious. There’s more to it. Find a way to talk to me during or after class_
> 
>  
> 
> _~ Signe_

 

She briefly thought about how she was going to get to Charlotte before giving a mental _fuck it_ and folding it, before she handed to the the boy next to her, motioning in front of him to where her target sat. He gave her an odd look, one that clearly said ‘ _passing notes in high school?’_ , but Signe was well liked enough by her classmates that he didn’t outright refuse.

Signe watched as he waited for Mr Hanson’s attention to be directed somewhere else before leaning forward and tapping Charlotte’s shoulder, handing her the folded piece of paper. The redhead looked less than interested in what it could be, but she still opened it, eyes glancing over the words not just once, but multiple times. Signe felt her heart sort of thump heavily in her chest repeatedly. _God please, just let her say yes._

At some point, Charlotte turned slightly in her seat and glanced over at Signe, raising an eyebrow in question. Signe assumed it had to do with the fact that Charlotte was suspicious. She couldn’t really blame her, but right now, Signe needed Charlotte to think she was on her side, so she just gave a slight shoulder shrug, the motion barely even noticeable, but she hoped Charlotte would still catch her meaning.

“Mr Hanson, I’m not feeling well. Can I go to the nurse?”

Signe nearly jumped out of her skin when Charlotte raised her hand and turned to look at Mr Hanson, who looked preoccupied with something else. Signe had no idea what her game plan was.

“Uh...sure, Charlotte.” Mr Hanson said, waving off the request. Charlotte smiled.

“And can Signe come with me?”

 _Ohh…._ Signe understood what was going on now. Once again, Mr Hanson just nodded, turning his attention back to a kid that was...drawing? Whatever, it didn’t matter. Signe watched Charlotte stand, crumpling up the note in her fist and stuffing it down the back pocket of her low-cut jeans before tossing her handbag over her shoulder. She walked out the door, not bothering to see if Signe was following, and headed down the hall.

Signe muttered bitterly under her breath, but grabbed her own bag and followed behind at a quick enough pace. The sound of heeled shoes echoed through the hall as they walked down and finally, when they turned the corner, Charlotte turned on her heel to look at Signe, raising an eyebrow in question.

“So? What’s Miss Goody-Two-Shoes got to say about gossip? Never thought you’d be the type to talk about others behind their backs, but I guess every bitch has a darkside.”

Signe wanted to groan, but now was the time. Why was Charlotte such a stereotypical ‘mean-girl’? She opened her mouth to speak, but Charlotte beat her to it. “Wait, let me guess. You _also_ like Mark? Is that what this fucking is?”

Signe’s mouth hung open for a few seconds before she laughed. She didn’t mean to, but there was no way she could hold it back. Thankfully, she had enough control over herself to not make it loud, and finally, it trickled down to a few chuckles before she saw the glare on the redhead’s face.

“That’s not what this is at all,” She said before leaning forward, using what little height over Charlotte that she had to make herself seem even slightly intimidating. Signe pitched her voice down and whispered darkly, “Fuck with Amy Nelson again, and you won’t know what fucking hit you.”

Originally, Signe had no idea how she was actually going to broach this topic once she got to this point, standing out in the hall with Charlotte, but without her knowing, something had almost...overtaken her, sort of, and it had led to this weird turn of events. Going with it, she closed her eyes for a few seconds, rolling her shoulder and letting a calm overtake her, and when she re-opened her eyes and glanced down at her body, it was gone. Thankfully, when she went invisible, so did her clothes. Smirking to herself, Signe switched around to stand behind Charlotte and leaned in again.

“ _Understood?_ ” She asked. When Charlotte flipped around to look at her, she was visible again, a pleasant smile on her face as she looked at the redhead, arms crossed casually over her chest.

Charlotte looked as though she was about to explode, pale skin brightening to a color that could almost rival her hair, before she seemed to...relax. A suspicious look of realization crossed her face, and Signe felt herself grow slightly unnerved. She expected an argument, but right now...Charlotte just looked smug.

“You...you fucking _like her_ , don’t you? It’s not Mark you’re after, but the bitch… Wow, that’s fucking gross! But honestly, not fucking surprising. Shoulda know you were one of _those_. Man, you two really deserve each other, than.” She said with a sharp laugh. Signe flinched at her words, but glared darkly at the redhead. She was aware that homophobic people existed, but god, seeing them in person made a bitterness run through her veins.

Signe raised an arm to...not _strike_ her, but to do _something_. Grab her…push her… She wasn’t sure. However, before she could follow through with the motion, Charlotte was crackling with electricity, her normally gold tinted eyes taking on a more electric and yellow hue. What looked like contained lightning fizzled along the redhead’s exposed skin, and Signe took a stuttered step back, gritting her teeth.

“Oh? Not so intimidating now, are you…” It looked as though Charlotte had decided it was her turn to make a move, and Signe was tempted to shut her eyes tight and wait for the inevitable, but when nothing happened her several seconds, she opened her eyes to the sight of blonde hair directly in front of her.

It was _Amy._ Signe couldn’t think of any other person who could be standing in front of her like this right now, and when she shifted slightly on one leg, she caught sight of the side of her face, confirming her suspicions.

 _Amy_ had come back from wherever she had gone. _Amy_ had seen what had just happened (though Signe wasn’t sure to what extent). _Amy_ had just stepped in to protect her. Signe could feel her cheeks heating up, but a slight ‘hmm’ coming from Charlotte had her breaking out from her thoughts.

None of them said anything, but Signe could see the look on Charlotte’s face as she swing her bag over her shoulder, a subtle smirk on her face, before she turned and walked away, the sound of her heels once again clacking against the floor of the hallway, leaving Signe alone with Amy, which was…

* * *

Both of them stood there in awkward silence, not really sure how to go from there. On Amy’s hand, she had just witnessed a conversation she didn’t understand the context of, and on Signe’s hand, she had just practically been saved by the girl that she was trying to protect. They stood there, facing each other in the empty hall, not saying anything, until….

“I–”

“That–”

The two of them looked at each other before bursting out into laughter at their failed attempt to talk at the same time. It was also to dispel the unease that they both felt over what had just happened, but at least now, the tension had been broken. Amy motioned for Signe to go first, and so she did, seeing it as an opportunity to explain what the blonde had just seen.

“That...wasn’t what you might had thought it was.” She said slowly, her voice hesitant and a bit shy. Amy watched her with a relatively neutral expression, not wanting to show her thoughts and emotions on her face. She’d done enough of that they day before and this morning. Signe continued, warring with herself, slightly. In the end, she decided to just bite the bullet and essentially throw her best friend under the bus. “Sean, or, er, _Jack,_ he told me about what happened with...Charlotte. And I...I wanted to do something. Because I didn’t think it was right.” She explained finally.

Signe rocked back onto her heels a bit harshly, clasping her hands behind her back as she nervously played with her fingers. She had her head down slightly, scared to look up and see whatever expression would be on Amy’s face, however, she ended up doing so anyway when Amy coughed lightly. Signe caught the pink hue to her cheeks.

Amy didn’t really know what to say. She was a bit bewildered by the entire situation, and it took her a few moments before she could open her mouth and actually get any words out. She was just...strangely pleased? That Signe had stood up for her. And so, she said as much.

“I’m…thank you. That means a lot, actually. I’m grateful. Nobody other than Mark has ever...done something like that before.” It was a truth. When it came to anything, Mark was always the one that Amy depended on for support or backup, but the fact that Signe had gone out of her way...Amy couldn’t help but fall for her even more.

The two of them fell into yet another bout of silence, a little less awkward than the last, before Signe spoke again, her curiosities and concern getting the best of her. “Earlier...umm. You ran out of the cl–”

“We should get going. Back to class. You know, before Mr Hanson starts questioning why we’re taking so long and sends someone for us.” Amy said quickly, interrupting Signe’s question. Signe felt a little suspicious, but she said nothing, simply nodding.

The two of them gathered their things and headed down the hall back to the classroom. As they walked in and headed toward their own seats, they gave each other small smiles, and when they sat down, both of them looked down at their phone, having received a text from their respective troublesome best friends. Signe sighed under her breath. Amy just dropped her head onto her desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah!! There's that!! One thing I am happy about in this chapter is that Signe and Amy's relationship is starting to like....develop, so yay for that. I'm excited to continue writing them (and hopefully get better at it). AND OH YEAH, though I missed it by a wide margin, it's been (over) a year since I started writing this fic!! I'm legit only nine chapters in and barely anything has happened, but those of you who have stuck around, thank you so much!!!!
> 
>  
> 
> (Completely irrelevant to everything else that I've said so far, if any of y'all are into My Hero Academia, I've been writing down a few fic ideas for that which may be posted at some point over the summer, so...possibly look forward to that? I have no idea)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So....it's been three months....and I honestly apologize. One would think I would have more time to write during the summer, but instead, all it does is make me extremely lazy instead. BUT HEY, I'M BACK. My schedule this semester gives me breaks between my classes and I now have absolutely no excuse not to write (it's the reason I managed to finally finish this chapter), so yeah. who knew college kicking back up would make me write again....
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is a bit wonky 'cause there are so many breaks between writing it, so if there are any continuity errors or heavy repetition, I apologize. Also, Jack's section is like...half as long as Mark's because he didn't have as much internal dialogue going on, but I hope that's not too much of a problem. I'll try and keep everything as even as I can. But yeah!! Sorry for taking so long, and sorry if this is shit (I've been told that it's not, but I don't really believe you, Uma...), but still, I hope you enjoy it and can forgive me. 
> 
> Also also, this chapter was was written entirely with no planning, so that's another reason it might suck. BUT, I've officially planned the rest of the fic, so I know exactly what I'm doing from this point on (kinda), so hopefully the rest of the chapters are better. Anyway, Imma stop rambling now and just....let y'all read, seeing as how I've delayed long enough.

Mark was still...vaguely freaked out about his encounter with Robin, but the longer he stood in the bathroom by himself, the dumber he felt. Pulling his phone from his pocket, the torrent of text messages from Amy had ceased, so he shot her back a couple himself, trying to ease her mind as to how he was doing

> [M]: I’m okay.
> 
> [M]: Just...had to hide in the bathroom for a bit to calm down, but I’m good now, I swear!!
> 
> [M]: But...something weird _did_ happen, and...I’ll tell you later, okay? Imma head back to class now, and I’ll see you next period. I’ll cut calc

He didn’t get a response, but Mark didn’t worry about that. Instead, he gave himself a once over in the bathroom mirror, fixing around his hair which took no more effort than simply dragging a hand through it, pushing loose strands out of the way to fall back into their proper place. He looked tired, which wasn’t really far from the truth, but what senior in highschool didn’t look exhausted? Other than that, he looked as normal as ever, and so Mark made his way back into the hall to head towards his classroom.

The walk back didn’t take long, and when he entered the room, Bob and Wade both shot him worried looks from their seats. Mark debated ignoring them to just walk back to his seat, but he figured it would cause more harm than not. With a simple flip of his hand, he waved away their worry and made a motion as if it say, ‘we’ll talk about it later’. Bob didn’t look all that pleased, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t really have much of a choice.

Sitting back in his seat, Mark tried to focus his attention on the front of the room, reading over the notes written on the board over and over again, to the point where it felt as if they were permanently engraved into his brain. It was a tactic he decided to test, figuring if he overloaded his mind with his own thoughts, there would be no way for him to be overpowered by thoughts coming from other people.

It seemed to work relatively well. Occasionally, he would be forced to shut his eyes and even out his breathing,

_I’m soooo bored!!!! Wait! I didn’t finish copying the notes down! Oh my god, is this gonna be on the exam??? I wonder how many classes I can miss without failing this class…_

but as soon as he managed to clear his head, he was back to repeating the notes over and over again. While the trick worked (for the most part), Mark was more than aware that he was going to have to find a more foolproof tactic in the future. If he was to ever live a normal life (or at least, as normal a life as he could), then there was no way he could continue with the way things were now.

When the bell finally rang, Mark let out a slow and relieved breath before looking up to see the looming sight of Bob standing over his desk, peering at him through the rectangular frames of his glasses.

“So, you gonna explain now? Or shall we wait this out until you inevitably crack?” Bob asked. Wade stepped over from his own desk after gathering his books into his bag and watched the two of them in thinly veiled interest. Mark could tell he was also concerned, but Wade was the ‘I’ll wait till you come to me’ type of person. Bob...was not. Mark was thankful he had such caring friends, but now...was really not the time.

“Um…” Was the only sound he could get out as the last few remaining students left the room, along with the teacher who simply shot them a raised eyebrow before heading out herself. Bob did the pose, the one with one hand on his hip, and the other dangly loosely on the side of his body, ready to cuff Mark at the back of the head when necessary.

_This idiot. Is he sick again? It’s been a while since he’s ever acted like this, like he’s hiding something._

That sent a pang of hurt through Mark’s chest. He had never been a fan of lying or keeping secrets, but with his situation...it had become necessary. It didn’t mean that he hated it any less, and the fact that it was now actively affecting his relationships with his friend, it was a terrible feeling. Wade shot him a reassuring look and placed a hand on Bob’s shoulder.

“Maybe we should just wait for him to tell us on his own terms, Bob. Forcing it out...it won’t get us anywhere, yunno. If Mark’s not ready, then that’s fine.” For once, Wade was the voice of reason and Mark couldn’t be more grateful, especially when it worked. Bob looked like he wanted to protest, to continue to push, but Mark guessed his expression made it more than obvious that it wasn’t going to work.

_God, these two are exhausting sometimes._

Mark wanted to laugh at Wade’s thoughts seeing as how he felt the same, but it didn’t seem like the best time.

“Listen, guys…” Even if he couldn’t tell them the complete truth, he could at least give them something, right? “I’m….I’m fine.” _That_ got a glare from Bob.

_Fine, my ass…_

“I’m _fine_ . It’s just, some things have been going on for the past few days. You know, with the whole rumour thing, and then I got...I got hit with these _crazy_ migraines. It’s been a bit much, but I’m okay. I promise.”

At that, Bob seemed to relax and the glare in his eyes softened to a look of concern that Mark appreciated greatly. “You couldn’t have just told us that?” He asked softly, as if speaking any louder would cause Mark more pain.

Mark shrugged, not sure what to say. “I just didn’t want to worry you guys, I guess. Though it seems like my plans backfired on me…” He laughed, though it wasn’t very humoress. Bob let out a sigh and dropped the hand he had on his waist, placing it instead on Mark shoulder, forcing him to look up.

“Tell us next time? Okay?” Mark nodded. He realized he was wrong to worry his friends so much, but really...there wasn’t much else he could do. But with that over with, Bob and Wade said their goodbyes before heading off to another class, leaving Mark is the blessed solitude of the empty classroom. No one else walked in, so he figured it wasn’t used second period. He pulled his phone out from his pocket and sent a quick text to Amy, prompting her to meet him in the room. He was a bit too exhausted to go anywhere else.

It took all of three minutes for her to arrive, and when she did, Mark noticed how flushed she seemed. Her own classroom wasn’t all that far from his, so the walk over couldn’t have been the cause.

_Don’t ask_.

She told him. Mark cracked a smile. The ease at which she’d gotten used to this part of him...Mark appreciated it. “Why ask when you’re gonna tell me, anyway?” He sassed. Amy sent him a glare but he knew she didn’t mean it. As she flopped down into the seat next to him and sighed, Mark felt himself relax quite a bit. Now that there was a greater distance between himself and the insistent thinking of his classmates, he could focus on his own thoughts, and Amy’s, but that was okay.

“Was it something bad?” He prompted when she said nothing. Her head was blissfully empty of anything but the sight of starlight and Mark was slightly taken aback. He couldn’t just read thoughts, but he could also visualize the same images that people think about…. He filed that information away for now, not wanting to get into it. He was too tired of focusing on himself.

Amy shook her head once she finally decided it was time to act like a functioning person. She had a questioning smile on her face, and Mark could hear the argument in her head as the starlight was replaced by warring thoughts that made no sense. They weren’t sentences, but moreso half thought out ideas that hadn’t fully taken shape yet.

“I saved Signe from a bully. Well, kind of. She was my bully, yunno, _Charlotte_ , but yeah. I had...I had left my class to look for you, and when I left, I saw Signe and her talking,” Mark felt himself tense and the look on his face must have alerted Amy to what he had been thinking. “No no! It wasn’t like that. I _thought_ it was for a second too, but then Charlotte tried to attack Signe, crazy, _I know_ , but I stepped in, and….”

What Mark guessed to be what had happened earlier with the three girls floated through his head and he saw from Amy’s perspective and she surged in to stand between Charlotte and Signe. It was pretty heroic.

When the visuals cleared, Mark could hear the mile a minute thoughts going through his best friend’s head, ranging from _oh my god, I did that_ to _she stood up for me, how cuuute!!!!_. He smiled to himself before placing a hand on Amy’s shoulder, causing her to pause.

“Looks like your crush isn’t one sided.” He said. A bright blush stained Amy’s cheeks and she pulled back.

“That’s ridiculous! She was just being nice, and I….I appreciate that from her, even if it was a friendly thing!” Amy looked seconds away from melting if the heat radiating from her cheeks was anything to go by. Her body seemed to vibrate slightly and Mark was worried she’d start floating out of her seat if her emotions got anymore muddled. He’d only seen it happen once, when they were hanging out late at night watching horror movies. Loss of control over one’s abilities was a thing that happened rarely in those fifteen and older. The only times it tended to occur was when someone was exhausted, utterly terrified, extremely angry, or completely disjointed.

Mark cocked his head to side as he watched her, trying to rein in the insistent need to poke around in her head. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, and when he opened them again, Amy was looking at him with a soft stare, gentle concern floating in her eyes.

“Enough about me,” She said. “What happened earlier? Bob texted me, saying that you left abruptly. I tried to find you, but I saw Robin instead, which was strange. And your test said that something weird happened?” Mark knew Amy wouldn’t push him to talk, unlike Bob, and he appreciated it, but he needed to get this out.

He took a deep breath and leaned back in his seat, letting his head roll before lifting it again. “I...uh, I saw Robin too. In class, I got a bit overwhelmed, so I ran to the bathroom and I sat there for a while. When I went to leave, Robin was in the bathroom, leaning against the sink like he was waiting for me. I most certainly did _not_ scream,” Amy snorted in disbelief, “and he...he didn’t even say hi. He just said we needed to talk, and it was weirdly serious.”

Amy quirked an eyebrow at that in question. “Talk about what?” She asked.

“That’s exactly what I said! Anyway, he asked me...about how I felt about Jack, which was annoying, but I told him the truth and he...he said to be careful not to get Jack into trouble. But that wasn’t even the weird part!” Mark corrected himself in his seat and leaned across the gap separating him from Amy’s own desk. “Amy…..I couldn’t hear his thoughts. Any of them. They just...didn’t exist. I didn’t hear them when he snuck in and scared the shit out of me, and I didn’t hear them during our entire conversation. For a bit, I thought I couldn’t hear anyone’s at all, but as soon as I got back to my classroom, it started all over again.”

He paused for a long time, waiting for Amy’s response, and she didn’t say anything for a long while, making Mark more anxious.

_Is it possible that…?_

“That what?” Mark jumped in. Amy shot him a look but still didn’t say anything, continuing to think to herself, as if Mark couldn’t hear all of it.

_He’s suspicious, and the way he acted was much more than protective friend, so maybe he knows about–_

“Do you think he knows I’m telepathic?” Mark shot out, unable to help himself. Amy let out a long groan and dropped backwards into her seat, letting her body almost sag into it.

“It’s _impossible_ to think around you if you keep interjecting like that!” She almost yelled. “And if you keep talking about _that_ so loudly, someone is going to overhear!”

Mark sort of wanted to melt in place, feeling heavily guilty for basically eavesdropping on Amy. He felt a heaviness in his chest and dropped his eyes to his hands, fiddling with his fingers, anything to keep his attention away from his best friend, to give her the privacy she needed, _deserved_.

_Fuck this ability,_ He reprimanded himself.

Most likely noticing his change in demeanor, Amy placed a hand over both of his, significantly paler and smaller in comparison.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I’m just...not used to someone being in my head like that.” She apologized. Mark wanted to snort in reaction, but he figured that was a bit too mean.

“Yeah, well, I can’t really help it right now.” He said and shrugged. Not much better of a reaction, but it was the best he could do for now.

Amy leaned in closer and tilted down to look up at Mark from the angle he was staring down at. “I know, and I’m sorry. It must...be much worse on your end.” Mark shrugged again before looking up and giving her a soft smile. His head was beginning to hurt again, but this time from his fatigue. He just wanted to go home and sleep and forget about all of this. “But, what I was going to say was _maybe,_ Robin knows that you’re not just a pyro. Most ‘don’t hurt my friend’ speeches don’t come with a ‘keep him out of danger’ clause, and the only way he would say that...is if he maybe knew.”

This time, _Mark_ groaned. He cupped his face in his hands and let out a sharp breath before running his hands roughly through his hair. “Is that what I am now? Dangerous? To Jack? To you? To...to _myself?_ ” His voice came out deep and tired, and Mark watched as the expression on Amy’s face shifted to worry and concern, something that was becoming much too frequent lately.

“Not at all! Mark, you just need to learn how to control it! It’s the same as any other ability, the same as your fire, or your shifting, which I know you’re good with. Just...practice, and then everything will be fine!” Mark wanted to believe Amy, but the newly grown pessimistic side of him was resistant. Regardless, he fought past it and nodded.

“I...I guess, but this is a lot harder to train. I never randomly shifted, not after the first time. This is harder to control.” He confessed. Amy offered a bright smile.

“I’ll help.”

– ~ –

The rest of Mark’s day went by slowly. Much too slow for comfort, but there wasn’t really much he could do with the constant barrage of thoughts and images invading his head at every step. Somehow, it gradually became easier to deal with, as long as he kept up the tactic of repeating things in his head over and over again, but there were times where Mark was ready to give in and go home for the day. Somehow, he managed to stop himself from actually going through it, and when he reached Mr Kramer’s class, Mark was ready to just pass out somewhere.

It was like he had been forced to compete in mental acrobatics all day, and it was _exhausting._ He wasn’t even tired from the use of his telepathy, but just the mere fact of being awake and being forced to interact with others. Not only that, but Mark was coming close to the part of his day he’d been dreading the absolute most: seeing Jack.

Mark knew it was inevitable. After what had happened the last time he’d seen Jack….well, there was no way he _couldn’t_ have this conversation with the Irishman, which was the worst part of all of this.

Walking into the classroom, Mark was somewhat relieved to see that Jack wasn’t there yet. He made his way over to his seat swiftly and dropped himself in it before rubbing viciously at his face. He tried to psych himself up for class on the way over, but all he could think about was Jack being in front of him all day, thoughts on clear display, seeing as how Mark had absolutely no control over himself. And with everything that had happened the previous day….well, Mark was well aware of his own suspicious actions. Jack’s few minutes of absence were bliss until the bell inevitably rang and Jack walked through the door, face carefully blank.

Mark let out a deep sigh under his hand and turned to look out the window beside him, to try and distract himself. The birds flying past him, as well as underclassmen running around outside only worked for about two seconds before the sight of Jack in his peripheral had him losing his mind again. Mark was so distracted by trying to distract himself, that when his eyes finally turned to look at the back of Jack’s head, he was greeted by shy blue eyes instead. He nearly jumped back in shock.

_How do I start this? Oh jeez, he looks like he just saw a ghost, did I scare him? Man, I’ve already turned around, I can’t pretend nothing happened. I shoulda waited till after class!_

Mark tried his very best not to flinch at the thoughts. The feeling was so intrusive. He didn’t like the idea of being able to hear _everything_ a person was thinking, _especially_ Jack. Like he was stepping on toes Jack didn’t even know were exposed. He held back a groan.

“G-good afternoon….” He managed to let out, and it seemed to Mark that Jack had not been expecting him to speak. The Irishman gave him a conflicted look that not even Mark’s newfound telepathy could explain, and when he opened his mouth to reply, or say something else, _anything_ at all, Mr Kramer walked through the door, cheerful as ever with a grin and a stack of blank papers in his hand. Jack’s eyes widened and he gave a sheepish look,  mumbling what Mark could only assume was an apology under his breath before turning back around.

_Great. Fucking. Job. Not only did you probably weird him out, but you didn’t even say good morning back. Sean, get your shit together. I’ll just...have to ask him after class. About_ that.

Mark wanted to ask what _that_ was, but of course, he couldn’t. After all, none of what he’d heard had been said out loud and he’d already freaked Jack out once with his half, maybe, probably, kinda confession the other day. _God_ , Mark still felt like a dumbass about that, but in his defense, he’d been a _little_ out of his mind.

He didn’t want to deal with this today. After his whole morning and his encounter with Robin, he was ready to call it quits. Telepathy was cool, but god could take it back now, Mark didn’t want it. But of course, things weren’t that simple, nothing ever was, and he was forced to resort to his only method of not going insane that he had: mental repetition. If he kept this up, it would be so much easier to memorize vocab words for some of his classes later down the line… _Positive mental attitude, and all that jazz._

Instead of focusing on one of his many problems of the day, Mark forced his attention towards the front of the classroom where Mr Kramer stood, setting down the paper stack carefully at the end of the his desk.

“Today, I thought we’d do something fun!” That perked up Mark’s interest. “Now, I know this is typically a test used for kids in elementary school to put them in basic categories, but today, we’re gonna be using Zipher paper, which, if you’re not already aware of, is basically a piece of paper that glows whatever color your ability matches to. It was made by a man named Charles Zipher, thus the name, and it’s mainly used for Class B types.”

Mark was curious. He’d heard of Zipher paper before, but his elementary school hadn’t used them, thinking the idea of putting kids that young into _categories_ was a bit too much. He couldn’t deny his curiosity, and it looked fun. From the low rumble he could hear around him, not everyone in the class thought the same. Mr Kramer frowned.

“Oh come on, guys. Trust me, it’ll be cool. It’s does much more than just change color for people your age. If you concentrate enough, you can change the actual paper into the very element, substance, or whatever it is you control. Look, watch me,” he said, and pulled a slip of paper off from the top of the pile. It wasn’t a big piece of paper, maybe four by four inches. The class, including Mark, watched as Mr Kramer held it between two fingers. Where his skin touched the material, it began to glow a sharp yellow color, gradually inching out across the rest of the paper before it looked like a sheet of yellow lightning dangling in the air. Mr Kramer let it drop from between his fingertips before clapping both hands over it, causing it to fizzle out and disappear. He grinned. “Cool, huh?”

Mark was tempted to clap, but there was just an awed silence that overcame the class, other than the occasional ‘ _That was HELLA cool’_ comments coming from some people. Mark wasn’t even annoyed, seeing as how he was thinking something along the same lines. Mr Kramer seemed pleased with himself and began to hand out slips of paper to everyone in the room, two per person, and explained how it was going to happen.

The first page would be used simply to change the color, in order to allow everyone to get used to the material again after however long it had been since they’d last used it, or in case it was their first time. The second piece would be used in the same way Mr Kramer had demonstrated. One by one, students would walk up to the front of the room and show off.

Mark was more than worried about his own performance, but muttering brought him out of his head and into, not surprisingly, Jack’s. He’d been doing well to avoid the overwhelming thoughts of everyone in the room, with the acception of a few that would slip in here and there, but with Jack...it was incredibly difficult, no matter how much Mark tried to force them out. In a way, it was kind of like how he was with Amy. Her thoughts were...soft, for lack of a better explanation. Everyone else felt abrasive and rough, but with Jack….

There was a certain drifting sensation he got from him. It made the invasive feeling he got even worse, seeing as how it was so easy to peer into the mind of the guy he’d liked for so long. He could hear the troubled thoughts in Jack’s head, the worry in how the paper would react to him, and how it was... _impossible_ to _hold sound_. Mark figured that was true. Jack could manipulate an intangible thing, so how was he supposed to hold it?

In the end, there wasn’t much time to deliberate. Mark found that changing the color of the paper was relatively easy. Just barely raising the heat of his fingertips was enough to turn it an orangey red colour. When he let it go, it stayed that way. His curiosity made him lean forward and peer over Jack’s shoulder to see what color his paper had turned, but all he saw was nothing between his fingers.

“It turned clear.” Jack explained, causing Mark to nearly fall back in his seat in shock. He hadn’t realized how obvious he was being in his nosiness, but Jack simply turned around and smiled at him, a bit nervously, but it was genuine.

Mark smiled back. “I guess that makes sense, seeing as how you can’t really... _see_ sound.” He reasoned. Jack laughed, and it was a nice sound. The kind that Mark wanted to hear again, but as soon as it was over, the moment was taken over by a sense of awkwardness, neither of them knowing quite what to say. Mark could hear the rush of gibberish going through Jack’s head that was most likely some high speed accented English, but it made no sense to him, and when Jack spoke again, he was glad he wasn’t able to understand it.

“Umm...this is gonna sound strange, and honestly, you can refuse, but...can we maybe talk after class? Yesterday, the way we left off was a bit strange, and I didn’t...get to tell you everything.”

Mark was sure if he heard that without Jack speaking it out loud, he would have made a fool of himself. Not that his reaction to hearing it out loud was any better. His mouth sort of hung open for a second, a look of shock and stunned silence more than obvious on his face, and the longer he waited, unable to force himself to speak, the more Mark could see the red spreading across Jack’s pale cheeks.

“Unless….you don’t wa–”

Mark kicked himself into gear and the words basically fell out of his mouth in his haste to get them out. “No! I mean, yes! I mean, sure! We can...we can continue our conversation. Um, I’m sorry for the way I acted, but–”

The sound of someone clearing their throat brought both Mark and Jack’s attention to the front of the room where Mr Kramer gave them a stern look. It wasn’t an expression that fit his face well, seeing as how he was always in a good mood, so Mark sunk back into his seat and turned his attention back to the pieces of paper in front of him. He could hear Jack whisper under his breath that they would talk later and he smiled to himself.

Of course, he knew what this was going to be about, but Mark was somewhat...excited. Maybe he’d finally be able to confess to Jack. The whole mind reading thing was still a big problem, but he had Amy’s support on that and it was all he needed. With that in mind, he turned to the second slip of paper and began working on turning it into fire.

He wouldn’t let this…. _affliction_ ruin his last year of highschool. He wouldn’t let it ruin his life. It would take a lot to get over it, to pretend it didn’t exist, or to at least get used to it enough that it would stop interfering with his day to day life, but he’d do it. He had to.

* * *

 Jack’s morning beyond what had gone down with Robin wasn’t all that eventful. His panic from before had dissolved into a steady thrum of casual unease at the back of his mind, but other than that, he was okay. But, just because he had convinced himself that things were fine, didn’t mean that they actually were. While he was calm, he really couldn’t forget the whole ‘be careful around Mark’ warning from Robin.

What was really going on? He couldn’t keep him mind off of it for the entire day, turning the words over in his head again and again, picking them apart and putting them back together. But, no matter how many times he did it, nothing….seemed to come of it. Or, he _did_ realize some things, but they were _way_ too absurd to be even remotely true. At least, that’s what he tried to tell himself.

Jack knew it was inevitable, having to confront Mark about his comment the other day, and something about it had been incredibly….suspicious. Signe’s remarks about Mark _possibly_ having Shifted, and then the whole idea of him being a Double, they refused to leave his thoughts in the same way Robin’s warnings had. But...there was no possible way….right?

Scratch that. Jack wasn’t calm. Jack wasn’t even anywhere _near_ being calm. His head felt like a warbled mess, and he felt lightheaded, even sitting down in his classes, trying to focus on his lessons rather than the war happening behind his eyes. He suddenly wished he _had_ chosen to stay home this morning, because he truly did feel sick. He didn’t know what was going on. How had a crush manage to get this out of hand? Confessions were supposed to be tense, but god, Jack felt like he was losing his mind!

In an effort to retain some of his sanity, he slipped his phone out of his pocket and texted Signe. When in doubt, she was his go to, no matter what.

> [J]: Scratch the plan. I think I’m getting sick, so maybe...you can talk to Robin for me?

Jack felt sorta terrible for pushing something like this on his best friend, but with the way he was feeling...there was no way he’d be able to confront Robin and all of his suspicious behavior. He was struggling with what to talk about with Mark, and he didn’t need double stress, and while Robin was an important friend of his, someone he’d trusted for years, there were some things that were more of a priority, and that included talking to Mark.

He dropped his face to his desk and held back a loud groan of pain, only looking back up when he saw his phone screen light up in his peripheral vision. Opening it, it was a text from Signe, unsurprisingly, but also a text from Robin. Jack almost didn’t want to check it, so he didn’t. Instead, he read Signe’s, which was a simple ‘ _I got you_ ’, and Jack knew he couldn’t ever hope for a better best friend.

Playing with his phone for a little bit, the alert at the top signalling a text message continued to taunt him, and Jack could feel his resolve to ignore Robin slowly deteriorate.

Finally, with an inaudible sigh, he swiped across the screen and read the message.

> [R]: I’m sorry about earlier. I know how you feel about Mark, but I’m serious, Jack. Be careful around him.

Jack let his head drop back onto his desk with a dull thud. What did this mean? Why was Robin being so damn cryptic? Like he knew more than Jack did? Like there was some sort of major secret hidden below the surface that was just out of reach? He scrubbed at his face and let out a low sound that thankfully no one else heard. He was upset. A more than obvious deduction, but Jack wasn’t quite sure _what_ he was upset about.

His friend scaring him? Keeping things from him? His own lack of sense? The fact that things were getting complicated and he was the only one left behind?

In a way it was all of them, and worst of all: Jack knew something was up with Mark, and he wanted to know _what it was._ He had two possible routes of action: ask Robin, or ask Mark himself. Jack wasn’t a big fan of either option, but the idea of ignoring the problem altogether was even worse.

Jack knew he was going to talk to Mark today. Whether or not that meant dragging him into an empty room and having a one-on-one or simply just asking to meet (probably the latter option, but Jack felt like he was feisty enough today to go for the former if need be), but Jack...was going to ask Mark. Maybe not about the whole possibility (because it _was_ a possibility) of him being telepathic, but at least...about what he had said. About _liking_ him. He wanted to know what that meant.

If it was meant to be an awkwardly phrased ‘ _I like you as a friend_ ’, then Jack would take it, because Jack wanted to be his friend. But...if it was an ‘ _I like //like//_ _you_ ’, then Jack was going to be over the fucking moon ecstatic. Because then they could be _more than_ friends.

The nervous thumping of his heart in his chest got worse the more he thought about it. It was all easy and fun and nice to _say_ that he was going to do something, but it was so different to actually _do_ it. Not that Jack had ever been one to really wimp out on things. He knew his strengths. He was charming. According to some people, he was even considered popular, whatever that meant. So….

He’d do it. He would ask Mark about what happened the day before, and depending on his answer, it would either be the worst day of Jack’s life, or one of the best. He felt intimidated, scared even, but there was something satisfying about the idea of brute forcing through this haze of anxiety. A tactic that didn’t work all the time, but Jack was going to force to work today.

Straightening himself out in his seat, he texted Robin back. He was a later problem, but there was one thing Jack wanted to clear up.

> [J]: I know you mean well, but stop. I can take care of myself

It was a bit harsh, but his newfound determination was making decisions for him now. Jack was just along for the ride.

For several seconds, he watched the bubbles signalling Robin’s typing on his screen, before finally, a message popped up.

> [R]: Okay

Jack felt like there was a certain weight to those four letters, and he didn’t like it. But, regardless, he had hopefully gotten his point across, and maybe after talking to Signe, Robin would stop being so damn weird. He felt the slightest bit better about his situation and plan, putting most, but not all, of his worry to the back of his mind. Today was stressful, incredibly so, but...Jack knew what he was doing.

Maybe. Sorta.

– ~ –

Jack did not know what he was doing. As soon as the bell rang, signalling the end of his morning classes, he could feel the panic begin to well back up inside him. How was he going to do this?

Walking through the halls, Jack looked out for Signe, hoping to catch her before she left to talk to Robin, hoping for one last bit of support. He had told her his plan, because, well, of course he did. There wasn’t much that Jack did without Signe’s input, and with something as nerve wracking as this….well, there was no way he was going in blind.

For the most part, she supported him. She wasn’t a fan of the ‘forcefully spit out your feelings’ part of the idea, but other than that, Jack could tell she was proud of what he was about to attempt. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she had made her own progress with Amy and was trying to spread the ‘good vibes’ (he choked just thinking about that), or maybe she was just being her usual supportive self. Jack liked to imagine it was a mix of both.

Regardless, he hadn’t managed to see her at her locker of anywhere else, so Jack was just a jumble of wrecked nerves as he made his way through the halls, clutching onto the strap of his bag as though it would offer some sort of encouragement or support. Instead, it just made him pull more weight onto his shoulder, pain that he ignored with the reasoning that it ‘grounded him’.

He didn’t know if he wanted to walk in first and watch Mark come in after, or make a late appearance to delay the inevitable talk, but the rush of the halls made that decision for him as people pushed and pulled their way around him. It was a mixmash of colors and scents and textures that were nearly nauseating. By the time he made it to his classroom door, the warning bell had rung and Jack knew Mark was most likely already at his seat. He gave himself a mental shake, and, thinking about it for a second, gently shook his head too. He probably looked crazy, but Jack felt a little crazy.

When he walked into the room, his eyes immediately landed in Mark’s direction. Jack was both a little relieved and a little disappointed by the fact that he was staring out the window, rather than at him. It might have been a little greedy of him, but he couldn’t help it. He moved over to his seat without a sound, squeezing his way between desks and other students before he finally sat down. In an effort to psych himself up, he closed his eyes and turned around, not giving himself any time to think about the action. Mark was still looking out the window, but he turned to look at Jack only seconds later and it was….strange.

Jack watched as Mark almost flinched in his seat, like he hadn’t been expecting Jack to talk to him, which was….quite possibly true, if he was being honest with himself. Maybe Mark had thought Jack would ignore what happened yesterday. Yeah….fat chance.

_How do I start this? Oh jeez, he looks like he just saw a ghost, did I scare him? Man, I’ve already turned around, I can’t pretend nothing happened. I shoulda waited till after class!_

Mark looked almost pained, and Jack couldn’t get himself to speak, but he was almost stunned when Mark spoke instead.

“G-good afternoon.....” He sounded hesitant and shy, which were things Jack would never characterize Mark as. He normally looked so sure of himself….and Jack began to feel a bit conflicted. He tried to talk again, force any sort of reaction out, anything! He got about as far as opening his mouth to form the first syllable of his sentence when Mr Kramer walked in and demanded the attention of the class. Jack mentally muttered curses in his head and muttered a low ‘sorry’ under his breath that he wasn’t even sure Mark had heard, before turning to face forward in his seat. Man, he felt stupid.

_Great. Fucking. Job. Not only did you probably weird him out, but you didn’t even say good morning back. Sean, get your shit together. I’ll just...have to ask him after class. About_ that.

_That_ which was the current bane of his existence; a ‘confession’ he was slowly beginning to lose confidence that he had even heard correctly. Jack was sort of losing steam, but he didn’t have time to ponder over his failure to ask one simple question, even if that question had been weighing him down nearly all day. He shook the thoughts from his head and repeated a mantra in his head that he and Signe always used when they were feeling down. _Positive. Mental. Attitude._

It didn’t take him long for the panicked feelings he had rising in his chest to dissipate, and by the time they had disappeared into nothing but a steady hum beneath his skin, Mr Kramer was already addressing the class about their activity for the day.

“Today, I thought we’d do something fun!” That perked up Mark’s interest. “Now, I know this is typically a test used for kids in elementary school to put them in basic categories, but today, we’re gonna be using Zipher paper, which, if you’re not already aware of, is basically a piece of paper that glows whatever color your ability matches to. It was made by a man named Charles Zipher, thus the name, and it’s mainly used for Class B types.”

Jack was bored already. He’d used Zipher paper as a child before. Even before he’d moved to the states, his primary school had introduced the material to his class and they had spent the day playing around with it. Jack knew what to expect already, and it was basically just an invisible piece of paper. From the sounds going around the classroom, Jack could sense he wasn’t the only one so unenthused.

“Oh come on, guys. Trust me, it’ll be cool. It’s does much more than just change color for people your age. If you concentrate enough, you can change the actual paper into the very element, substance, or whatever it is you control. Look, watch me,” and proceeded to demonstrate what he meant, turning the paper between his fingers into a square of yellow electricity. It was cool. _Very_ cool if Jack was being honest with himself, but again….how was _he_ supposed to do that? Seeing as how he was a sound manipulator, and….sound wasn’t all that tangible.

It didn’t matter. Mr Kramer had already begun handing out the slips of paper around the classroom, each of them instructed to take two. Jack wasn’t entirely excited at the prospect of showing off to the rest of the class when it would be his turn to stand in front of everyone, but there wasn’t really a way to get out of it. Mr Kramer had already stated that there were no exceptions to the rule. He sighed under his breath and held up the first piece of paper, staring at it intently.

Using his ability...Jack wasn’t entirely sure how to explain what it was that he did to control it. In a way it was as easy as breathing, but at the same time, overuse left him exhausted and panting. There was no way to describe sound in a physical way that would be easy to understand. To Jack, it was like...waves. Patterns in the air that warped the space around it, going back and forth in all different direction, bouncing off of surfaces. They were like wave forms but also so much more. Again, incredibly confusing to describe, and even more difficult to turn into something tangible.

Regardless, Jack started with the easier task. Concentrating, he flexed the fingers of the hand that wasn’t holding the paper and closed his eyes briefly, trying to visualize airwaves. It didn’t take long, and he touched the paper with the pads of his fingers. When he opened his eyes, the paper was entirely see through.

He heard a small, almost inaudible gasp come from behind him, and felt his heart sort of thump in his chest. “It turned clear.” He said and turned around, smiling at the slightly dazed expression on Mark’s face. His heart thumped again when Mark returned the smile.

“I guess that makes sense, seeing as how you can’t really... _see_ sound.” Jack laughed, and the moment was sweet before silence took over. Jack’s thoughts worked in near hyper speed as he tried to think of something to say. This was his chance to ask Mark about talking after class, to discuss what had happened the previous day, and the longer he waited, Jack could feel himself slowly losing confidence, so in an act of desperation, he forced the words from his mouth before he could back out of it.

“Umm...this is gonna sound strange, and honestly, you can refuse, but...can we maybe talk after class? Yesterday, the way we left off was a bit strange, and I didn’t...get to tell you everything.”

Not _entirely_ what he meant to say, but it got the point across well enough. From Mark’s expression, he didn’t look too into the idea of talking, and it made Jack tense and awkward. He hoped he hadn’t fucked up, and he could feel a blush rolling across his face, heating his cheeks in embarrassment.

“Unless….you don’t wa–”

“No! I mean, yes! I mean, sure! We can...we can continue our conversation. Um, I’m sorry for the way I acted, but–” Mark looked panicked and Jack felt slightly relieved that he hadn’t messed everything up, only for their discussion to be interrupted by a certain teacher. Jack shot Mark an apologetic look and whispered that they’d talk later before returning to the assignment at hand.

He felt better about himself, if he was being honest. He managed to at least make it through part one of this plan, and that was progress. Now, all he had to do was turn a piece of paper into sound, and worry about the rest of the plan later. He’d get through it….probably.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there...it...is, after 3 months. Again, sorry this took so long. I'm a very easily distracted person and anytime I would sit down to write this fic, I'd end up doing something else instead. But hopefully....this was decent??? I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it, but I'm waaaay to lazy to like...go through it again and fix parts I think don't make sense, so I guess I'll just suffer. Anyway, yeah, we have some progress in terms of Mark and Jack talking to each other again, and ohhhh, they gonna talk about FEELINGS. Jkjk, but anyway, imma go sleep now even though it's still pretty early but I'm exhausted so sayonara (I'm taking Japanese 101 and it's so fun)
> 
> Tumblr: theworldinallitshonestterrors


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